^ 



SERMONS 



ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS: 



BY 



THE REVEREND JOHN CLOWES, A. M. 

SECTOR ar ST. jOHisr's church, manchestbb, and late rEiLOW 

OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, 



JVEW-YORK: 

PUBLISHED FOB THE PROPRIETORS^ 

AND fSOlD BY 

GALLAUDET AND WELLS, NO. 163 WATER-STREET, 
T. & W, Merceiu, printers, 93 Gold-stree*. 

1815. 



i"- 



) 



^ 






/ 

/0 J/ \^ 



NOTE, BY THE EDITOR 



s^F 



The editors of this little volume feel as if 
they could do nothing more likely to promote 
the cause of Christianity, or true vital piety, 
than to lay before the public the following Dis- 
courses. It seemed a matter of serious regret, 
that so rich a treasure of heavenly things, in 
whi«".h every true disciple of Jesus^ may find in- 
struction worthy his attention, should not be 
appropriated to general use. These Discourses 
cannot have a higher recommendation than their 
own intrinsic merits. To praise them simply, 
would not be doing them justice ; for, in general, 
whether the style or subject matter be taken 
into consideration, every candid critic will al- 
low, that they must have been the efforts of a 
Christian and a scholar, of no common attain- 
ments. In the arrangement of the subject, they 
are clear and simple : in the exposition of the 
text, luminous beyond example. Passing by 
points of doctrine, they aim at nothing but to 
inculcate pure and vital religion ; and this is 



IV NOTE, BY THE EDITORS. 

enforced with such a pecuhar energy and beau* 
ty, as cannot fail to affect the heart, interest the 
feelings, and open the understanding of the 
reader. 

The editors have, further, to observe, that the 
pubhcation of Sermons is, generally, too much 
confined to the particular denomination to which 
the writer belongs. But so far as respects the 
following Discourses, this never ought to be the 
case. There is nothing discoverable in them 
of party spirit or sectarian prejudice ; and it is 
confidently believed, that the pious and good of 
every denomination, who shall read the follow- 
ing Sermons with candour and attention, must 
feel their hearts glow in unison with that of the 
writer. 

It may be proper to state to the public, that 
these Sermons were not written with a view for 
publication, nor have they ever been revised 
for that purpose. 

JSTe-co-York, September^ 1815. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 
Sermon I. On Brotherly Love, considered as a 
proof of the Christ!, n's growth in 
grace ......... 1 

II. Ditto ........... 9 

III. Ditto 19 

IV. The Lord Jesus Christ the great 

Householder 29 

V. On the Spiritual Vineyard of the 

Lord's planting .39 

VL On the Hedge round the Vineyard . 49 

Vn. Ditto 61 

Vllf. On the Wine-Press ,71 

IX. On the Tower ,. 81 

X. On the Letting out the Vineyard . 91 
XI. On the Householder's going into a 

far Country 105 

XII. On the Fruit which the Vineyard 

produces 117 

XIIL On the Time of the Fruit ... 127 
XIV. On the Servants sent to receive the 

Fruits of the Vineyard . . .137 



VI 


CONTENTS* 


Page 


Sermon XV. 


On the Servants being beaten, 






killed, kc 


147 


XVI. 


On the Servants more than the 






first ........ 


159 


XVII. 


On the persevering Obstinacy of 






the unfaithful Husbandmen . 


169 


XVIll. 


On the Householder's Son . . 


177 


XIX. 


On seizing the Son's Inheritance 


187 


XX. 


On the Fate of the wicked Hus- 






bandmen 


197 


XXI. 


On the Marks and Characters of 






true Faith 


205 


XXII. 


On Casting out Devils . . . 


217 


XXIII. 


On Speaking with new Tongues 


225 


XXIV. 


On Taking up Serpents . . . 


235 


XXV. 


On Drinking deadly Things . . 


247 


XXVL 


On Laying Hands on the Sick . 


257 



BROTHERLY LOVE 

CONSIDERED AS THE '^ ■ ' 

SIGN AND PROOF 

OF THE 

CHRISTIAN'S GROWTH IN DIVINE GRACE, 

IN THREE SERMONS. 



SERMON I. 



1 John iii. 14 

Wt know that we have passed from death unto life^ 
because we love the brethren. 



It was the blessed privilege of the beloved apostle and 
his fellow-believers, to have this happy testimony in 
their own minds, that they were passed from death unto 
life. They knezi) this to be the case, by a conviction 
wrought within themselves : they had an indisputable 
sign and proof of it, which they could not question : 
they were persuaded hereby, that their lot would be 
eternally happy ; that they were restored to the favour 
of God ; that they were one with God, and God zvith 
B 



*2 JBROTHERLY LOVE. 

tJiem; of eonsequence, that death, misery, and condem- 
nation, \yere no longer to be dreaded by them, because 
they were passed far away from such things, and born 
into another kingdom. Thus their souls were kept in 
peace through all the troubles and disquietudes of this 
lower world ; and having hope in God, and being at rest 
in him, they rejoiced with joy unspeakable, and full of 
glory. 

Let it not however be supposed, that these blessed 
privileges were intended to ba confined to St. John and 
the first disciples of Christianity. ' They belong alike to 
all those who profess the same holy religion, and obey 
its heavenly doctrines. They belong therefore to us, to 
jou and to me, and to every true believer in Jesus 
Christ ; and it is a grace granted to every one of us, if 
ive are wise enough to discover it, to be enabled to say, 
^' We know that we hare passed from death unto life." 

That this is the case, will appear plain from the con- 
jsideration of these two particulars, to which I could 
earnestly wish to engage your present most serious at- 
tention. 

First. The nature of the passage here spoken of by 
the apostle, from death unto life. 

Secondly. The sign or proof of our having made this 
passage, viz. because we love the brethren. 

First, then, let us consider the nature of the passage 
spoken of by the apostle, from death unto life. 

It is a matter little thought of by the generality of 
Christians, that there is such a passage from death unto 
life ; and still less is it considered, that this passage is to 



BROTHERLY LOVE. O 

he made by us in this world ; otherwise it never can be 
made ; and least of all is it in general apprehended, how 
the thoughtless and impenitent never discover {his pas- 
sage, but abide in the regions of death, whilst the peni- 
tent and sincere believer both discovers the passage, 
and walks therein, until he arrives at the regions oi eter- 
nal life and peace. 

The generality of Christians therefore think of no 
other death but the death of the body, and of no other 
passage to life but the passage through the grave of the 
body ; and thus, alas ! too many, it is io be feared, ne- 
glect to look for that passage till it is too late to find it, 
and never pass from death unto life, because, being blind- 
ed by the delusions of sin, they did not believe such a 
thing possible or attainable here below. 

But, beloved, that there is a passage froin death unto 
life, is plain from the concurrent testimony of the Word 
of God throughout ; and that this passage is such, as that 
we may both discover it, and may make it, during our 
abode in this world, is equally plain from the declaration 
of the apostle in my text, speaking of himself and of 
other believers, " We know that we have passed from 
death unto life." 

From this declaration it is manifest, not only that 
there is a passage from death unto life, but that men like 
ourselves also had made the passage, and knew that they 
had made it, even during their abode in this world. 

To the same purpose, but in different words, the apos- 
tle Paul bears this testimony, " Giving thanks to the Fa- 
iker^ whiwji bath made us meet to.be partaker.5 of the in* 



4 BROTHERLY LOVE. 

heritance of the saints in light ; who hath delivered us 
from the power of darkness, and hatli translated us into 
the kingdom of his dear Son."* 

Here St. Paul speaks, both in his own name, and in 
that of bis fellow Christians, of a *' deliverance from the 
power of darkness, and a translation into the kingdom 
of Jesus Christ," which thev had experienced, even 
whilst they were living in the body here below ; which 
is the same thing as what St. John calls the " passing 
from death unto life." 

The first Christians, therefore, it is mast manifest, not, 
only knew, and were assured, that there was a passage 

from death unto life, even to be found in \h\s world ; but 
they also discovered this passage, and made it during 
their abode here below, and were moreover assured, to 
their unspeakable comfort, and by the most incontro- 
vertible signs and proofs, that they had made this pas- 
sage. 

And yet these were men like unto ourselves : they 
were subject to the same infirmities ; they had the same 
corruptions to struggle with ; were exposed to like temp- 
tations w^ith ourselves : neither had they any other or 
higher helps than we Christian*; have at this day. The 
Almighty did not favour them more than he doth us : his 
grace was not stronger or more powerful in their bo- 

^ms, than we might find it to be in ours : heaven was 
not nearer or more open to them, than it is to us ; and 
yet we find they were enabled to attain unto this most 

^ColoEs. i. 12, 13. 



BROTHERLY LOVE, 5 

happy of all human conditions, to know that they were 
passed from death unto life. 

What I would therefore here contend for, and wish to 
press upon your present most earnest consideration, is 
this, that what those first Christians once attained to, is 
still attainable by us, if we will but be as faithful to our 
God and his word, and as true to our own best inter- 
ests, as they were. We may therefore pass from death 
nnto life^ even during our abode in this world, as certainly 
and Mlly, as ever St. John, St. Paul, or any other of our 
Lord^ first disciples did. We may have the same signs 
and infallible proofs, which they had, that we are so 
passed. We may thus attain, if we be bo disposed, unto 
the same grounds of heavenly hope, assurance, and com- 
fort, in our acceptance with God. 

For the religion of the blessed Jesus, let it be well 
noted, is the same religion at this day, that it was seven- 
teen or eighteen hundred years ago. The minds of 
men, as to their belief in it, and their reception of it, may 
indeed be changed, but itself cannot change. Its doc- 
trines are still the same, and will remain so to eternity. 
Its power upon the human soul, if it be rightly received, 
is also still the same. It is capable, therefore, of ef- 
fecting noW', what it effected in old tme, . It can still open 
/heaven to the true believer ; it can still transform man 
^^from earthly to heavenly ; it can still deliver from the 
^wpoiioer of darkness, and translate us i7ito'il]t,e kingdom of 
its divine Author : it can, in short, still enable us to say^ 
if we are not wanting ' mrselvc^j what was said to 
B2 

'uHttKi 



% 



b BROTHERLV LOVE* 

{.heir unspeakable bliss, by them of old time, '' We kno^T 
that we have passed from death unto life." 

I am well aware, however, that this will hardly be 
believed by the carnal and the careless. All such are 
unwilling to allow, that the powers of heaven are so 
near them, or that as much fruit of those powers will be 
expected from them, as from the saints of old. Thus 
they set limits to the operations of God, which God him- 
self hath not set, and which he hath declared he never 
will set. They say, for instance, " Apostles might look 
for extraordinary advancements in divine grace ; they 
might overcome the world and the flesh ; they might be- 
come the sons of God ; they might, by the purity of 
their lives and the power of their faith, pass from death 
unto life ; but this is not to be expected in our days : 
it was never intended we should experience such in- 
fluences of divine grace, or bring forth such fruits there- 
of in our hearts and lives." 

Thus do the carnal and the careless labour to reason 
themselves out of the real excellency of their religion, 
and all its benefits, by supposing those benefits to be 
confined to those few who first received the gospel of 
Christ. But, beloved, permit me, Ijy way of conclu- 
sion to this part of my present subject, to caution you 
most earnestly against suffering your minds to be betray- 
ed into such unworthy, false, and dangerous sentiments .^^ 
of your religion and its divine Author. For this pui-^""* 
pose, ponder well with yourselves the genuine design of 
the Gospel of Christ, and the unchangeableness thereof. 
Its intention is, and ne^ds loust be the same now^ that it 



BROTHERLY LOVE, € 

was at its first preaching and establishment. The pow- 
ers and privileges which it presents to the true believer, 
are also the same. As, therefore, it formerly operated 
on the minds of apostles, confessors, martyrs, and thou- 
sands of other holy disciples, to convert them to Jesus 
Christ, to turn them from sin and vanity, to transform 
them from earthly to heavenly, to purify, change, re- 
deem, and renew their sinful natures, and thus to make 
them pass from death unto life ; even so also it would 
operate at this day, if men's minds were but in a like 
state to admit and comply with its operation. 

Believe then this to be the real truth, and that of con- 
sequence you are now called, and every believer in the 
Gospel is called, to experience the same blessed effects 
from it, that the apostles themselves experienced. I do 
not say that you are to look for the gift of working mira= 
cles, as they did ; nor to go about the world to convert it 
by your preaching, like St. Peter or St. Paul : but this 
you are certainly to look for, viz. to believe in and to 
love Jesus Christ, the incarnate God and Saviour, as they 
believed in and loved him ; and in this belief and love 
to your brethren, as St. Peter and St. Paul loved their 
brethren ; and thus to be meek, humble, patient, con- 
tented, and charitable, as you read the Lord's first disci- 
ples were ; and to overcome the devil, the world, and 
the flesh, as they did ; and hereby to pass from death 
unto life. For, search and consult your own minds, and 
see whether you can discover there any reason why you 
should be less holy than St. John, or any other of the 
Lord's first disciples were, Is it not in your power t 



§ * BROTHERLY LOVE» 

love GoJ, and your neighbour, as they did? Cannou 
you repent and believe in Jesus Christ, as well as they ? 
Cannot you, therefore, grow alike in the divine grace, 
and attain unto a like measure of true Christian virtues ? 
Make but the experiment, and make it with sincerity, 
and believe me, or rather believe God, you will soon be 
fully convinced, that tl^measure of holiness to which 
the saints of old were called, and attained, is the very 
same to which you also are called, and 7nay attain. 

Away then with all vain reasonings. Repent, and be- 
lieve the Gospel. Turn unto Jesus Christ, the mani- 
fested Jehovah, and keep his commandments ; and you 
will then soon experience, that heaven is still open. God 
is still near and powerful, and his grace still operative 
as in old time ; wliereby you will, sooner or later, be 
enabled, to your unspeakable bliss, to say with the 
apostle, "We know that we have passed from death 
unto life." 



SERMON IL 



1 John iii. 14. 

J We know that we have passed from death unto life^ 
because we love the brethren. 



In the foregoing discourse we endeavoured td point out 
the nature of the passage/rom death unto life here spoken 
of, as being a passage to be performed during our abode 
in this world, and to which all Christians are alike called 
universally. 

We shall now proceed further to shew the nature of 
l^iis passage^ and then consider the sign or proof here 
mentioned by the apostle, of our having made this paS' 
sage, vi?. because we love the brethren. 

It must be very plain to every considerate person, that 
by passing from death unto life, is not meant any bodily 
passage, or any change of place or situation with respect 
to the body. 

For if the body was to move ever so far in any direc* 
tion, upwards or downwards, it would not be possible for 
us to depart further from death, or to approach nearer ua-* 
to life than we were before. 



Id BROTHERLY LOVE?. 

The case is, the terms life and deaths as used in holy 
scripture, are applied to denote, not any particular state 
ef the body^ but particular states of the soul or spirit^ 
with respect to God and the things of his eternal king- 
dom. 

According to this application of the terms life and 
deaths to pass from death unto life^ denotes a change 
"Wrought in the internal state of the soul or spirit^ so tha^ 
whereas it before lived in a state of spiritual deaths it now 
begins to live in a state of spiritual life. 

As for example. It is written in holy scripture, " maa 
^oth not live by bread only, but by every word that pro- 
Ceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord, doth man live."* 
And in another place " If thou wilt enter into life, keep 
the commandments."! By which words we are plainly 
taught this truth, that not to partake of the word of the 
Lordy or not to keep his commandmients^ is a state of spiri- 
tual death ; but, on the contrary, that to partake of the 
word of the Lord^ or to keep his commandments, is a state 
of spiritual life. Whensoever then the soul or spirit of 
man, which heretofore had no knowledge and love of the 
Lord and of his Word^ begins now to perceive an inward 
sense of love and regard thereto, and takes delight in the 
ways of God, and the keeping of his commandments^ such 
a soul or spirit is said to pass from death unto life. 

So again. The apostle speaks of being " dead in tres- 
passes and sins. "J To live therefore in trespasses and 
sins against God is a state of spiritual death ; of COOSC- 

* Deut. viii. 3. Mat. iv, 4. Luke iv. 4, 
t Mat, xh, 17. \ Bphcs \l I 



BROTHERLY LOVe. II 

quence to cease from trespasses and sins, and to begin to 
lead a new life, is a state of spiritual life ; and this change 
wrought in the soul from a state of trespasses and sins to 
a contrary state of purity and holiness, is therefore sl pas- 
sing froin death unto life. 

So again. *' She that liveth in pleasure (saith the 
apostle) is dead while she liveth ;"* that is, the soul or 
spirit, which indulgeth in the mere pleasures of the car- 
nal, worldly, and sensual life, and knoweth no better and 
higher enjoyments than these, is in a state of deatk ; to 
come out of this state then, so as to begin to be made 
sensible of other and superior pleasures to those of flesh 
and blood, viz. the eternal pleasures of righteousness^ 
which flow from the knowledge and love of God, this is t® 
begin truly to live ; and the change wrought hereby in the 
state of the soul or spirit, is a red! passage from death unto 
life. 

To mention one other instance, which may serv^e t@ 
5et this matter in a still clearer light. When the repent- 
ing prodigal returns unto his father, we are informed of 
the glad and welcome reception which his father give^ 
him, how he ordered the fatted calf io be killed, saying, 
let us eat and he merry ; for which he gives this very ex- 
traordinary reason, " This my son was dead, and is alive 
again."! Here every enlightened person may plainly 
see what is meant in holy scripture by being dead and 
being alive, or by death and life. When the prodigal 
Jiad no regard to his father, or his father's house, and fek 

* 1 Tim. 5. a t Luke x. v. 24. 52; 



12 BROTHERLY LOVE, 

no desire of returning thereto, ^' but was wasting his sub-- 
stance in riotous living,'' he is then said to be dead, 
though he was living at the same time in all the gratifi- 
cations and enjoyments of riot and luxury, of this world 
and the flesh : but as soon as ever he is weary of these 
wretched satisfactions, and begins to feel a warmth of 
penitent affection kindled towards his father, with a desire 
to return to him and to his house, he is then said to be 
aihe, though at the same time he ceased to Uve to his 
former bodily and carnal enjoyments. 

Here then, if we be so disposed, we may ail see clear- 
]y what is meant in holy scripture by death and Itfcy and 
Tjy passing from one to the other. Death is to live with- 
out God and his Word, or, what is the same thing, to have 
no love towards Grod, and no delight in him and in his 
commandments. Life on the contrary is to live with God, 
and to partake of his Word, that is, to have love towards 
God: and to find delight to our souls in the way of his 
commandments. To pass from death unto life then, in 
this particular instance, is to come out of a^tate of no 
love towanfis God, and no delight in his Word, into a 
state wherein we both love and delight in God, and in 
the purities of his Word and commandment. 

Again. Death is a state of wilful sin an4^ impeni- 
tence ; life therefore la a state of repentance of ceasing 
from sin. Death again is a state of false pleasures and 
satisfactions, such as are those of tills world and the 
flesh, when separated from the pleaaares of righteousness. 
Life therefore on the other hand is a state of real plea- 
sures and satisfaction?, such as are those arising from 




BROTHERLY LOVE: 1-3 

the love of God. In these instances, therefore, to pass 
from death unto life^ is to pass through repentance, from 
the vain and false gratifications of the corrupt part of our 
nature, which is carnal and worldly minded, to be made 
sensible within ourselves of the pure and eternal delights 
flowing from the love of God, and the communications of 
his peace to our minds and consciences. 

And would we know, beloved, the real, deep, and 
scriptural ground of all this, it is as follows. There is 
but one true and real life^ and one true and real fountain 
o( life, and that is God, and his Word and kingdom. 
Whatever then is not connected with God, his Word, 
and kingdom, this, in the language of holj scripture, is 
said to be dead, or in a state of death. Devils, therefore, 
or infernal spirits, though living in a state of most exqui- 
site feeling and sensibility, are still said to be dead, and 
to dwell in the regions of death ; the reason is, because 
by love they have no conjunction with God, his Word, 
and kingdom, from whence alone life cometh. In like 
manner impenitent and ungodly men are said to be dead, 
•and to dwell in the regions of the shadow of death, 
though possibly they may be living at the same time hi 
the highest state of worldly gratification and fleshly sen- 
sibilities, and the reason is the same, viz. because by the 
impenitence and impurity of their lives, they separate 
themselves from conjunction with God and hfe life. We 
talk indeed of other Z?/e besides the life which is of God, 
and of other death besides that which consists in separation 
of the love from God. Thus we talk of the Ufe of vega- 
tables, and of the life of animals, which are incapable of 

C 



14 BROTHERLY LOVE. 

loving God, and of being tlius conjoined with him. We 
saj also of men that they are livings ox alive, ^Then we see 
them alive and active in the love and pursuit of the things 
(rff this world, animated with the prospects of ambition, 
gain, glory, or sensuality. We say also of the same 
men, that they are dead, when we see them cease to 
live in the body, notwithstanding their beginning to 
live instantly in another world, in a state of feeling and 
perception far superior to what they experienced here 
below. It is however well to be attended to, that 
though in common language we apply the terms of life 
and death, in these subordinate and lower senses, yet, as 
used in holy scripture, they have a higher and infinitely 
more important signification. What man therefore fre- 
quently calls life, God calls death, and what man calls 
death, God, on the contrary, calls life. The reason is, 
God calls nothing life, and allows nothing to be alive^ 
but what is connected with himself, the only life, by a 
living principle of love and understanding ; and there- 
fore in his sight, and according to his language, the mere 
natural, animal, and unregenerate life of man, let its 
feelings, perceptions, and delights seem ever so exqui- 
site, it is but death, or the shadow and image of true life^ 
as having no conjunction by love and wisdom with the 
eternal and only source of the true life, according as it 
is written, '^ To be carnally minded is death, but to be 
spiritually minded is life."* 

* liom. viii. 6. 



BROTHERLY LDYE* 15 

The continual call of God therefore unto man, in his 
Word, is to come and enter hy repentance, by faith and 
obedience, or, in other words, with his hfe's love, and 
understanding, and operation, into conjunction with him- 
self, the foicntain of Ufe^ that so he may live for ever 5 
this conjunction alone being true life^d.ivl worthy of the 
uame. In his natural state, we know, raaii has no such 
conjunction, for in his natural state, by reason of heredi- 
tary and actual evil^ he has no true love towards God, 
but loves himself and the world better than God, and his 
neighbour. In his natural state therefore he is dead^ or 
in a state o^ death, from which state he cannot possibly 
be delivered but by returning to God, and entering hito 
conjunction with him. through his Word, or command- 
ment. 

Nevertheless, though man may be by nature in a state 
€^ death, yet it is his own fault if he continues therein, and 
absolutely dies for ever. For God giveth every one of us 
power to come out of this deaths and enter into the re- 
gioas of life, in as much as he giveth every one of us 
power to know and to love Him, and to know, and love 
and practise his Word, and thus to re-enter into conjunc- 
tion with him, which is eternal life. 

For let us search now, and examine ourselves, whe- 
ther we have not ail of us this power from God in our 
jnner man ; and we shall assuredly find that we have it. 
For cannot we think of God, if we be so disposed, as 
^{{en as we please ? Cannot we think of sin, that is op- 
posite to God, and therefore separates us from God ? 
Cannot we think of holiness, that is from God, and agree'- 



16 BROTHERLY LOVE. 

able to God, and therefore unites us with God ? Can- 
pot we therefore say thus to ourselves, ** I will hate and 
renounce sin, because it separates me from God ; and I 
will love and practise holiness, because it joins m^e with 
God ?" And cannot we tlius assure ourselves, that as 
we depart from sin, and enter into conjunction with 
God, we shdW pass from death unto life ? Only let us 
be at the pains to examine ourselves, and make the ex- 
periment, and we shall certainly find that we are ia 
possession of the blessed power and privilege here de-- 
scribed. 

I should now proceed to consider the sign and proof 
given in the words of my text, of our having passed from 
death unto life, viz. because nve love the brethren : but the 
present time will only permit me to conclude what has 
been already said, with this brief but affectionate ex- 
postulation. 

Are we, beloved, of the happy number of those who 
have made the passage from death unto life, or are we still 
walking in the valley of the shadow of death ? Let us 
examine ourselves well in this important matter. Are 
we returned unto God ? Do we begin to find a love towards 
God, and a real delight of heart in him and his ways ? Are 
we for this purpose turned, or ia the desire to turn, from 
all known evils, because they are opposite to God ? Do 
we cease to delight in the sin and vanity of this world and • 
the flesh ; and do we consider well, that they who live in 
the fond indulgence of mere carnal and earthly pleasures^ 
are dead whilst they live ? Is it thus become the chief 
affection, satisfaction, and endeavour of our lives, toenterr 



BROTHERLY LOVE/ 17 

mto conjunction with God, his Word, and kingdom, by 
well-doing, that so we may live for ever ? Some such few 
questions as these, seriously proposed, and sincerely an- 
swered, will soon bring us acquainted with the state of 
our souls, how far we are passed from death unto life. 

And blessed shall he be who upon such an examina- 
tion shall find that he is not still abiding in the regions of 
death and misery. Blessed shall he be w^hose conscience 
bears him testimony that he hath begun to love his God 
and Redeemer^ and to delight in the paths of life and righte- 
ousness. He is on the highway which leadeth to the 
New Jerusalem. He hath departed from the city of 
Destruction, and is about to enter into the City of the 
Lord of Hosts. Mount Zion is directly before his face^. 
and though his body be here upon earth amongst men^ 
yet his spirit is travelling in the midst of angels to take 
possession of the promised inheritance, the land of ever= 
lasting life, which is the blessed portion of all those thaii-*' 
fear God and-keep his commandments. AMEN. 



.<J 'i 



% 



SERMON III« 



1 John ill. 14. 

We know that we have passed from death unto life^ 
because we love the brethren* 



Having already endeavoured to shew, in the iw6. 
foregoing discourses, what is here implied, and to be un- 
derstood by passing from death unto life^ I shall now 
proceed, as was proposed, to consider, lastly, the sign or 
proof here mentioned, of our having made this passage^ , 
viz, because we love the brethren. 

This sign or proof however, cannot possibly be un- 
derstood, until it be first known who are here meant by^ 
those whom the apostle calls the brethren. May I there- 
fore bespeak yuur serious attention to this previous con- 
sideration, from which it will plainly appear what is im- 
plied and understood by loving the brethren. 

Now the apostles and first Christians, we know, called 
all those the brethren, or th& brotherhood, who were united 
together in one common faith and love, that is, in faith- 
%d l9ve toward3 their coroaaonGod and Saviour Jesu$ 



2(5^ BROTHERLV LOVE* " 

Christ, operating in newness of life, accorSmg to the 
commandments. 

Wherever they saw this operative faith and love, there 
they acknowledged a brother ; and they respected, reve- 
renced, honoured, loved, and cherished him, as one be- 
gotten again of the same heavenly Parent with them- 
selves, and making one of that great and holy family, 
body, or kingdom, whose head is the great Redeemer, 
the manifested God, the Lord Jesus Christ ; herein fol- 
lowing the spirit and example of their divine Master, who 
had taught them, " My mother and my brethren are they 
who hear the Word of God, and do it."*' 

It was not, therefore, any outward condition or cir- 
cumstances, with regard to this world, which determined 
this brotherhood. Rank and riches were no qualifica- 
tions to be admitted into the holy fraternity ; neither did 
poverty and meanness of birth exclude any. The single 
question respecting any one, was this, Doth he believe in 
Jesus Christ, the God who hath lately appeared amongst 
us to take away our sins ? and doth he manifest his 
faith by love, or by a life according to the command- 
nients of this God ? if so, he is a brother^ be he rich or 
poor, be his birth hon6urable or dishonourable in the - 
eyes of men. 

And as the conditions of men, with regard to their 
outward worldly circumstances, was of no account in 
forming this brotherhood amongst the first Christians, so 

* Luke viii. 21. See also Matt. xiii. 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, and Mark 
in. 31, 32^, 33, 34; 35. 



BROTHERLY LOVE. £X 

neither was the love, which influenced the members of 
this brotherhood^ grounded in, or determined by, any- 
mere natural affections, such as arise from natural rela- 
tionships, friendships, and partial worldly attachments 
©ne towards another. 

There is a principle, we know, which often is called 
love, and passes for Christian love and charity amongst 
men, which has no higher source, no deeper ground, than 
that of mere animal instinct, or natural similitude, 0|i 
worldly associations, for the sake of worldly interestSj 
comfort, or convenience. 

This, however, was not the principle which operated 
to produce brotherly love amongst the apostles and first 
Christians. These holy persons were wrought upon by 
higher and more heavenly motives herein, than any 
which arise from mere worldly connexions or relation- 
ships of flesh and blood. In this respect was verified 
what is written of them, that tliey were " born not of 
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man^ 
but of God."*' Their attachment, therefore, towards 
each other, was a divine and holy attachment. It had 
its ground and source in the great Father of all spirits. 
It was an holy principle of heaven-born charity, which, 
being eternal and stable as its origin, was not subject to 
those variations, changes, and caprices, which ever ac- 
company mere human and natural affections; let them be 
ever so near and tender. 



..-:' BROTHERLY LOVE» 

We are not, however, to suppose, that this love aad 
attachment of the first Christians towards each other, was 
Hierely spiritual, unattended with work and operation, 
which is the fruit of charity ; for it was a principal les- 
son of their love, '' not to love in word and in tongue 
only, but in deed and in truth.'"* They reverenced each 
ether, therefore, as children of heaven and immortality : 
but this was not all : from this reverence they were led 
to exercise every outward act of benevolence one to- 
wards another ; their lives were continually employed 
in doing good ; and it was their supreme joy and de- 
light to be serviceable in the smallest respect to any, wh» 
bore the stamp and image of the God whom they wor- 
shipped. 

From this short view, then, of what the apostles and 
first Christians understood by the brethren^ or brother- 
hood, and of the nature and operation of their love to- 
wards the brethren, it will now plainly appear to every 
considerate person, what is meant and implied by this 
sign or proof of passing from death unto life ; viz. because 
we love the brethren. 

To lo-ce the brethren, is to love that in others, which 
is of God, that is, the divine image and likeness ; or, in 
other words, all those living and heavenly graces, vir- 
tues, and excellencies, which proceed from a sound and 
pure' faith and love towards the Lord God and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. But this is not all. To love the brethreiv 
further implies, that our love becomes operative ia good 

*1 Jokn iii,.18. 



IROTHERLY LOVE« 23.. 

works, or in producing its proper outward fruits : it im* 
pliesj therefore, an external life of active benevolencej 
corresponding with that internal and heavenly principle 
from which it proceeds. He who loves the brethren^ 
therefore, not onlj reveres the divine image and likeness 
in his fellow-creatures, but labours also continually to 
cherish, comfort, strengthen, and bring it forth to all, ac- 
cording to his utmost ability and the best talents which 
God has given him. 

Let me bespeak, beloved, your most particular and 
earnest attention to this mark and character of a true 
Christian, or of one who hath passed from death unto 
life, that so you may examine by it the state of your 
hearts and lives. 

There is nothing we are so apt to deceive ourselves 
,in, if we are not well upon our guard, and well enlight- 
<3ned with the genuine light of truth, as love towards the 
brethren ; often calling that brotherly love, which is no 
such thing, but which is possibly the very reverse ; 
whereby we do essential mischief to our eternal in- 
terests. 

Thus, for example ; the mere natural man sometimes 
fancies that be has brotherly love, because be has much 
natural tenderness and affection towards some particu- 
lar persons, to whom he is united by particular natural 
ties, either of blood, of friendship, or of worldly in- 
terest. 

But such natural affection, it is well to be observed, is 
a thing totally distinct from what is called, in the Scrip- 
tures, brotherly love^ or charity ; and therefore we fpe- 



2^ BROTHERLY hOY^ 

quently find, that verj wicked persons have as much, (k 
possibly more, of such natural affection, than real regen- 
erate Christians ; according to those words of our Lord, 
*' sinners also love those that love them, and sinners als« 
do good to those that do good to them."* 

Natural rf^cction, therefore, is a principle totally dis- 
tinct from the aflfection of Gospel charity, or brotherly 
love. For natural aff'ection is a mere animal instinct, 
common alike to the just and to the unjust, to them 
that are passed from death unto life, and to them who 
know nothing of such a passage ; yea, natural affection 
is even common to man with the beasts that perish ; for 
we find that the beasts, even those which are most fierce 
and savage, are attached, by strong natural sympathies, 
towards their young and towards one another. 

Do not, however, misunderstand me, as if I here meant 
to censure or debase the principle of natural affection^ 
sympathy, and tenderness, whether amongst men, or 
amongst beasts. This is far from my design and mean- 
ing. Such principles and affections have their uses in 
their proper times and places, and when kept in due or- 
der of subordination to higher affections and principles. 
All I wish here to observe, and to lead you to observe., 
is this, that natural affection is not Gospel charity ; natu- 
ral tenderness is not hroilierly love ; natural feeling and 
sympathy is not spiritual grace and evangelical virtue; 
and th»t, of consequence, before we can attain to that 
measure of Christian purity and perfection, implied by 
loving the brethren, we must attain to somQ higher ai^d 

* Lt;ke yi. 32, 33. 



Brotherly l©ve* 5S 

tpore heavenly principle than ihs^t oi mere natural af- 
fectto7i^ tenderness, feeling, and sympathy. 

But methiuks I hear you ask, What then is this higher 
and more heavenly principle, vAnch is distinct from mere 
natural affection? It has been already shown, in what 
was observed concerning the first Christians. It is to re- 
gard that in others, ri^^dch is born of God, and to call thai 
a brother. It is to regard, therefore, in one another, the 
divine image and likeness, and to love and cherish li ac» 
cordingly. It is to be determined in our likings and dis- 
likings, our _ affections and disaffections, no longer by 
mere natural or temporal principles, such as ara those 
of the flesh and of this world ; but by spiritual and eter- 
Dal principles, such as regard the family, body, and king- 

lom of Jesus Christ. 

Behold here the great mark of distinction between the 
love which influences the mere natural man, and that 
which influences the real and heaven-born Christian! — 
The mere natural man loves according to blind and par- 

lal instinct. The Christian loves according to an en° 
iightened and universal principle of charity. The mere 
natural man calls him brother, to whom he is attached 
by blood, by natural friendship, or bj interest. The 
Christian calls him brother, \o whom he is attached by 
spiritual bonds of faith and love, in the same God and 
Redeemer. What the natural ??2«/i5 therefore, loves in 
another, is somewhat merely of the flesh, or of this 
world. What the Christian loves in another, is some- 
^vhat of the Spirit, and of another world. The natural 
,^\0M loves the outward person, or .personal qualities, of 



/ 



28 BROTHERLY LO\T^ 

anollier. The Christian loves the inward spirit, or spi- 
ritual qualities, that is, the divine image and likeness. 
Thus the love of the natural man is grounded in mere 
nature, and has no higher origin and end. But the love 
of the true Christian ascends high above nature : its 
source is from heaven and the God of heaven ; and its 
end, like its origin, is eternal, being rooted in the eter- 
nal principles of justice and judgment, of order and up- 
Tightness, of sincerity and truth ; whicii constitute the 
-eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ, and being active, ope- 
rative, and fruitful in good works, according to such prin« 
ciples. 

To conclude : Let me earnestly recommend to yoo, 
beloved, to try and prove your Christian faith, and the 
ground of your Christian hopes, and whether you are 
passed from death unto life, by the marks and characters 
of brotherly love, as above described. 

This is a sure test, which will not deceive you ; and 
without this, there is no other test on which you may 
safely depend. It is not, you may be well aware, a 
mere nominal faith or profession : it is not because yoa 
belong to this or that body of Christians, as distinguish- 
ed from others by a name or a form : it is not because 
you have much warmth of natural affection, tenderness^ 
and attachment towards particular persons ; still less is 
it because you have a natural zeal for holy things, and 
can put up holy prayers to God viith your lips, and can 
talk learnedly about God and the things of his kingdom : 
it is not, I say, for any or for all of these things, that 
you can hope for acceptance in God's sight : for all these 



BROTHERLY LOVE. 27 

qualifications may be the qualifications of very wicked 
persons, who have no part in the holy family, brother- 
hood, and kingdom of Jesus Christ, and therefore are 
not passed from death unto life. 

There is, then, but this one single qualification, which 
can be a safe and solid ground of your hope and trust, 
viz. brotherly Jove. But be sup examine yourselves well 
concerning this qualification, and take heed that you be 
not deceived respecting it. Mark especially the dis- 
tinction, above pointed out, between mere natural cvjfec- 
tion ^nd Gospel charity. Natural qff^ection is of itself a 
mere dead thing before God, and receives all its true lifi 
from chanty, Howbeit, charity, or brotherly love, does 
not destroy natural affection : it only quickens, sanctifies 
it, and makes it eternal : it also renders its operations 
more regular, constant, and orderly. Ask yourselves, 
therefore, over, and over, some such questions as these : 
What is it that I love in another ? Is it tiie divine image 
and likeness^ or is it only something of nature ? Do I 
love my neighbour, not because he is rich, not because 
he is learned, not because he is esteemed and honourable 
in the eyes of men, not because he is agreeable to my 
own natural temper and complexion, and still less be- 
cause he is united to me by the bonds of blood and re- 
lationship ? but do I love him because he loves God ; 
because 1 see in him a Godlike spirit and temper ; be- 
cause he is humble, just, sincere, upright, faithful, fear- 
ful of offending God, and seeking to attain unto a God- 
like nature ? Do I therefore regard, chiefly and princi- 
pally, in my fellow-creatures^ the divine intake and like - 



2B BROTHERLY LOVE* 

ness? and is it become the continual labour and deligh* 
of my life, and of all my actions, to administer, in some 
way or other, according to my talents, to the bringing, 
forth, perfecting, comforting, and cherishing such divine 
image and likeness? 

And inasmuch as I cannot love what is of God, unless 
1 be of God myself; inasmuch as I cannot have any re- 
spect for God's image and likeness in another, until I my- 
self am formed into his r/nage and likeness ; is it lastly 
become my daily labour and endeavour to be made a 
child of God myself, that so I may the better love his 
children as my brethren ? 

Some such few questions as these, seriously proposed 
:md answered, would soon enable us to determine our 
state of advancement in the divine favour, and how far 
we were passed from death unto life. May we all, tben^ 
ihrcugh the divine grace and mercy, be led to this seri- 
ous examination of our hearts and lives, that so we may 
all attain unto the unspeakable comfort of knowing that 
;ve are indeed passed fro:s. dzaih %rUo life ! 




THE LORD JESUS CHRIST 

THE GREAT HOUSEHOLDER.^ 



SERMON IV. 



Matt. xxi. 32,. 



Hear another parable ; there was a certain householder 
which planted a vineyard^ and hedged it round about ^ 
and digged a wine-press in it, and built a tower ^ and> 
let it oiUto husbandmen^ and went into afar coimtry. 



1 HERE are several particulars in these words which- 
demand particular consideration. There is mention made 
of a householder^ q^ planting a vineyard ^oi hedging it round 
about, of digging a wine-press in it, of building a tower ^ 
of letting it cut to husbandmen^ and of going into a far 
country. 

Each of these particulars, we must be forced to con- 
fess, is full of wisdom, and each contains a wisdom pe- 
culiar to itself. God cannot speak any thing sup^rfluoiiis • 
D 2 



30 THE HOUSEHOLDER* 

or in vain. Whatsoever comes from his mouth must 
needs have in it a deep and distinct meaning, and a mean- 
ing of use to man. Man, therefore, who is w^ise, will 
consider this meaning, and knowing that the word of 
God is the word of eternal life, he will deal with it ac- 
cordingly. He will m.editate upon it, and digest it well 
in his own mind. He will be sure that he comprehends 
and understands it aright. If he finds any difficulty 
herein, it will only increase his earnestness to have the 
ditticuUy removed. He will be more urgent in prayer 
to tijeCod of the word, that his eyes may be opened to 
see wondrous things out of his law.^ And the God of 
the word will not fail to hear his prayer, and to open his 
f??/6S, according as it is written, " Then opened he their 
under standings y that they might understand, the scrip-- 

The first particular in the above words which demands 
our attention is the householder, and to the consideration 
of this particular I mean to confine myself in my present 
discourse. 

The Lord calls himself a householder in regard to the 
spiritual house, his church, and as having the supreme 
rule, government J and direction in all things relating to 
that spiritual house. 

This spiritual house, the church, is that congregation 
of men throughout the face of the whole earth, who are 
influenced and guided by eternal principles of justice and 
of judgment, derived from the word of God, agreeable to 

* Psalm cxix. 18. 
I Inike xxiv. 45. 



TWK HOUSEHOLDER^ Sf 

tiie Lord's description, where he says, *- My mother and 
my brethren, (that is, mv family or household,) are these 
which hear the word of God and do itJ^ 

It is not wood and stone therefore which constitutes a 
churchy properly speaking; neither is it any particular 
ceremony or form of worship ; nor yet any particular 
doctrine, or form of speculative faith : all these things 
may exist in all perfection, and yet there may be nothing, 
of God's church : the reason is, God's church consists of 
spiritual and living principles of eternal mercy, good- 
ness, charity, and truth, derived from his word, and ope- 
rative in the lives of those who hear and keep it. 

The whole race of mankind throughout the earth may 
be considered as divided into two great families, one 
consisting of all such as fear God, and keep his com- 
mandments in heart and life ; the other consisting of such 
as do not fear God and keep his commandments in heart 
and life, but only in word and gesture. 

The eye of man cannot at all discern between these 
two families, so as to distinguish in all cases the one from 
the other, or who belongs to the one,, and who to the 
other ; but the eye of God discerns them clearly, and 
distinguishes them most minutely ; I know, saith he, my 
sheep ;t and seen by that ej^e, they are as different as 
light and darkness, or as heaven and hell. They are 
the sheep on the right hand^ and the goats on the left. 

The family of those who fear God, and keep his 
commandments in heart and life> is called his churchy ct'^, 

* Luke vili. 2!, 



32 THE HOTTSEHOT.niRftr 

household. My sheep, saith Christ, hear my voice,^ Thi^ 
family, howsoever separated as to place or distance, iS: 
closely united as to mind or spirit ; and howsoever di*r 
vided by external forms and ceremonies of worship, or 
by external articles and confessions of faith, is yet m^er- 
nally one hmWy, undivided, by virtue of a pure love to- 
wards God and towards each other. 

The cause, as well as the centre, of this undivideilr 
union of this holy family, is God himself, and his life. 
The reason is, each member of this blessed family re- 
spects God and his life in the highest. The will of God 
is their will, and the wisdom of God is their wisdom ; and 
by this one will and one wisdom they are intimately 
united with God, and thereby with each other, agreea- 
ble to what is expressed in the prayer of Christ, where 
he says, speaking of this family. That they all may be 
one, as thou. Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they 
also may be one in us.\ 

For as in the natural body of man there is an infinite va- 
riety of organs and of members, which are yet all united in, 
one, by partaking of the one common life of the soul or. 
spirit, even so it is in the spiritual body of Christ, which 
is his church or household. The members of this body 
are of an infinite variety ; but inasmuch as they all par- 
take of the one common life of God, as their soul or 
spirit, therefore they form one single and undivided*; 
body, 

* John X. 27. 
> John xvii. 2J, 



THE HOUSEHOLDER* O^ 

Here then we may see how the Lord Jesus Christ is 
the great householder, and why he calls himself by that 
significative name. He has the supreme rule, govern- 
ment, and direction, in this his church or household, by 
virtue of that one common life of love and wisdom^ which 
the members thereof receive from him. For inasmuch 
as the will of Jesus Christ is the will of the church, and 
the wisdom of Jesus Christ is the wisdomof the church, it- 
must needs be that Jesus Christ must be all in all in the 
church, and thus have all power, domlmon, sovereignty^, 
and guidance therein. 

Not that it is to be understood' as if this power, do- 
minion, sovereignty, and guidance of Jesus Christ was 
arbitrary or compulsive. This is not the case ; nor doth 
Jesus Christ ever exercise, or is willing to exercise, any 
such arbitrary and compulsive authority. He leaves all 
his children/ree, and he wills them to continue so. He 
doth not require any forced service, but the service of a 
perfect freedom, " The princes of the Gentiles^ saith he^ 
exercise dominion over them^ and they that are great ex- 
ercise authority upon them ; but it shall not be so among 
you.'^''^ They who serve him from compulsion, from 
that moment separate themselves from his family, and 
become those hirelings, of whom it is written, '' The 
hireling ficeth because lie is an hireling, and careth not 
for the sheep.^'] The reason is, none can be of the fa- 
mily of the blessed Jesus, but they who serve him from 
a principle of love, and the service of love is the service 
oi pure liberty and freedom. Therefore the Lord saith^ 

* Matt. XX. 25. 
t John X. !^3. 



34 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

in another place, "^ If itie Son shall make you free, then 
are ye free indeed,''''^ 

But though the dominion of Jesus Christ, as the great 
householder of his church and family, is not arbitrary or 
compulsive, yet it is not hereby to be understood as if it 
was not most fidl and complete. Its fulness and com^ 
pleteness consist in this, that there is a fulness and com- 
pleteness of all blessing, of all protection, of all de-- 
liverance from evil and error, and of all establishment in 
heavenly virtues, graces, and powers, continually com- 
municated from the divine householder to the household: 
Jill power, saith the blessed Jesus, is given unto me in 
heaven and inearth,] by which he doubtless meant a/r 
poiscer of blessing, of protection, and of deliverance. 
The members of his household are made partakers of 
this divine potjyer, and become sensible of its wonderful 
efficacy, according as it is written. To asmar.y as receive 
ed him^ to them gaz^e he power to become the sons of God. ^ 
Uniting themselves to the will and wisdom of 
their most high and holy Lord, they perceive herein a 
fdlness of all heavenly consolation and guidance. Se- 
parating themselves from whatever is contrary to that 
will and wisdom, they are convinced they have deliver- 
ance from all evil and error. Whilst the life and love of 
God is their life and love, they know that no mischief 
can befall them. Whilst the wisdom and truth of God; 



*■ John viii. 36. 
t Matt, sxviii. i8. 



THE HOUSEHOXDERc 3^ 

vi their wisdom and truth, they know that no delusion can 
deceive and mislead them. 

Not that this household of God, though under the im- 
mediate keeping and protection of the divine House^ 
holder, is to be understood as being totally exempt from 
sorrows and from perplexities, for it endures many : but 
then herein are fulfilled the words of its God, "//i the 
:fijorld ye shall have tribulation f^^ and again, " Ye shall 
he sorrowful, hut your sorrow shall be turned into joy,''^^ 
The sorrows and perplexities, therefore, of this heavenly 
household, are distinct from the sorrows and perplexities 
of those who are not of that household; and they are 
distinct in this, that sooner or later, the iroi^^/e of the 
former is turned, by the divine housebolder, into joy, 
and their perplexity into the clearness of satisfactory 
conviction respecting the providences of God. As the 
sorrow and perplexity of the world therefore worketh 
death, so the sorrow and perplexity of those who are of 
the family of Jesus Christ, worketh life and peace, or^ 
as the apostle expresseth it, *-' Their light affliction^ 
which is but for a 'moment, worketh for them afar more 
exceeding arnd eternal weight of glory, ''"'Ij, 

What hath been here said concerning the church or 
household of God in genera', is true of, and may easily 
be applied to the church in every individuaL Every 
individual man becometh a church or household oi the 
,most high God, in proportion as he knoweth and loveth 

* John xvl. 153. 
i- Johii vvi. 20. 
t2Cor. iv, 17. 



99 THE HOUSEHOLDER* 

that God. And so far as every individual becometb 
f>uch a church or household, so far he experience th of 
the blessing, protection, gui dance, and deliverance of 
the divine householder. For so far the divine house- 
holder is all in all to him. He no longer obeys his own 
will, and consults his own wisdom, but he obeys the 
will, and consults the wisdom of the God who dvvells 
with him. The will and wisdom of God become thus 
by degrees his will and wisdom. Herein he finds sure 
deliverance from evil, error, and misery, and at the 
same time a gradual elevation into the sphere of the 
divine blessing, protection, and guidance. From that 
moment all is sure to go well with him ; he rises above 
4.he regions of disappointment and uncertainty; and 
though he may still experience trouble and trial for his 
further purification, yet, inasmuch as he trusteth all 
his concerns to the care of the g^^eai hGusehoIdey in him- 
self, his very troubles and trials are converted into 
means of eternal good. 

To conclude. A question of infinite magnitude will 
naturally arise in every sincere mind, from what hath 
been said, viz. Do I belong to the general church and 
household of God ? and am I a church and household in 
particular? This question, important as it is, cannot per- 
haps be answered better than by these further questions ; 
Have I a sincere respect unto the divine householder in 
myself? Do 1 desire to submit my own will, to be ruled 
by his will, and my own wisdom to be directed by his 
wisdom ? Is this become the ruling principle of my re- 
ligion, thus ever to seek the life of God above all things. 



THE HO0SEHOLDER. S7 

and to exalt it to dominion in myself? Have I ceased 
from the vain hope of being saved, because I am a nomi- 
nal member of this church, or of that^ according to the 
distinctions of men? And do I know that there is no 
salvation but in the church of Jesus Christ ; and that the 
single condition of being admitted into this saving churchy 
is to renounce evil, because it is contrary to Jesus 
Christ, and to love and practise what is good, because it 
is from Jesus Christ, and leadeth to conjunction with 
him ? Do I ground thus my expectation of acceptance 
with God, not so much in mere words, and forms, and 
ceremonies of worship, as in the sincerity of my worship , 
not so much in the confession of my lips, as in the purity 
of my life; not so much in mere speculative opinions, as 
in a hearty and operative love towards God and my 
neighbour f 

Blessed is he, whose heart shall give him a satisfactory 
answer to these questions ! Blessed is he, who shall have 
the infinite honour and happiness of belonging to the 
Jioly family and household of Jesus Christ ! Blessed is 
he, who is able to call Jesus Christ his householder, and 
to trust in him accordingly ! 

And may we all be wise to secure to ourselves this 
blessing l' AMEN. 



ON THE 

SPIRITUAL VINEYARD 

OF THE 

LORD*S PLANTING. 



SERMON V 



Matt. xxi. 33. 



Hear anoiher parable : There was a certain house- 
holder which planted a vineyard, and hedged it 
round about, and digged a wine-press in it, and 
built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen^ and 
went into a far countrt/» 



In the preceding discourse > I endeavoured to shew 
what we are here to understand hy the term householder, 
and how this significative name is applied to the Lord, to 
denote his entire dominion and rule in his household, the 
church. 

I shall now proceed to consider the next particular 
which presents itself in these words of the parable, viz, 
the planting a vineyard^^ and point out the lesson of holy 



40 THE HOUSEHOLDBRr 

and edifying instruction, which the Lord intended herein- 
for all his true disciples. 

There is much mention made of vineyards, of vinesy 
o( grapes^ ?.'^d ol wi7i€, in the sacred Scriptures; but 
perhaps few people consider, as they ought, that by 
ihese things are signified, and meant to be expressed, 
spiritual and heavenly things relating to the Lord and 
his church. 

That vimyardlmih such a spiritual signification, must 
be evident to every one who will read, with any degree 
of serious attention, the 5th chapter of the prophet Isai- 
oh, where the prophet begins with saying, " JVow will I 
sing to my weU-belcved a song of my beloved, touching his 
vineyard, Aly wcll-beloved hath a vineyard in a very 
fruitful hilL'''^ And after describing several particulars 
concerning this vineyard^ and especially concerning its 
unfruitfulness, he concludes his parable with these words : 
^"•■The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, 
and the men of Judah his pleasant plant ; and he looked 
for judgment i but behold oppression; for righteousness^ 
but behold a crz/»"t 

From this passage, it must be very plain to every in- 
telligent mind, that by vineyard, is here signified and de- 
scribed the Lord's church, as to those spiritual and liv- 
ing principles which constitute the church ; and there- 
fore, when this vineyard became unfruitful, or when those 
spiritual principles were perverted and abused, it is said^ 

* What is here rendered a very fruitful hilly is in the origioal 
]'')p^* P'^-p— which is literally, In a horn the son of oiL 
f Verse 7. 



PLANTING A YINEYARD* 4! 

"^^ He looked for judgment^ hut behold oppression; for 
righteousness^ hut behold a cry.^^'^ 

Agreeable to this spiritual sense and signification o 
the word vineyard^ it is written again in the same pro- 
phet, speaking of the pure and uncorrupted church, " hi 
that day answer ye her^ -A vineyard of pure wine, I Je- 
hovah do keep it, I will water it every moment ;' j and 
again, speaking of the church in its state of trial and 
trouble, " In the vineyards there is no singing nor rejoic- 
ing :'^^\ and again, speaking of the church perverted and 
desolated,. " Jehovah will enter into" judgw.ent with the 
elders, for ye have burned up the vineyard :"§ and again ^ 
in Jeremiah, '' Many shepherds have destroyed my vine- 
yard ; they have made it a wilderness :"}] and agreeable 
to the same sense of the word, the Lord calls himself a 
vine, sajing, '' I 2,m Xh^ true vine , dtvA mj Father is the 
husbandman. "^^ 

From this spiritual sense and signification then of the 
word vineyard, as used in the sacred writings, it will ap- 
pear very manifest to everj thinking person, what is 
meant by planting a vineyard, as ascribed to the house- 
holder in the words of my i^xt. The householder, it has 
heen already shewn, denotes the Lord Jesus Christ as the 
supreme head and ruler of his church ; and hj his plant- 

*isalah V. 7. 
t Chap, xxvii. 2, 3> 
\ Chap. xvi. 10. 
5 Chap. iii. 14. 
i| Chap. xii. 10, 
^^ John XV. I. 

E2 



45- THE HOIjSEHOLDER 



ing a vineyar-d therefore nothing else can possibly* be 
signified or understood, but the implantation of spiritual 
truth from him and his word in the churchy whereby spiri- 
tual good^ which is the saving good of holy love and cha- 
rity, may be produced and rendered fruitful and ope^ 
rative. 

Miny I bespeak your most serious attention to this par-* 
ticular of the parable, according to this its spiritual sense 
and interpretation! 

The church of God cannot possibly exist, either gene-- 
rally or individualhy^ without the knowledge of God, and 
the knowledge of God cannot possibly be derived froca 
any other source than his hoiy word, as it is written. 
The Lord giveth wisdom, out of his Tuouih conieth know- 
ledge and understanding. 

The true vine therefore is the genuine truth of God '3 
holy word, and the true vineyard are all they who re? 
ceive this truth, and suffer it to grow in their, hearts; and 
bring forth fruit in their lives. 

Jesus Christ brought this vine down from heaven^ 
when the eternal Word was made flesh; and he willed it 
to be planted throughout the earth, when he said unto 
his apostles, ^' Go teach all nations, and preach the gospel 
to every creature,''''^ From that time it grew and flourishT 
ed and became a great tree in the earth, and the men of 
.he vineyard did eat plentirally of its heavenly fruits, 
and were nourished thereby in the wisdom, peace, and 
righteousness of an immortal life. 

Jasus Christ doeth the same at this day — his Gospel 

■-'Matt. xxviii.l9» Mark xvi. 15. 



1 



FLANTlNa A VINEYARD^ 43^ 

is still the same heavenly vine that it was seventeen hun- 
dred years ago — the truth of God cannot change, or be- 
affected by the vicissitudes of time : wheresoever there- 
fore there is a believing heart, there the heavenly vine is 
still planted, and there also it still bringeth forth its hea- 
venly, blessed, and eternal fruits. 

But do not all Christians alike receive the truth of> 
God ? Is not the Gospel preached to all ? And are not al!> 
therefore the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts, having the 
true vine implanted in them, and partaking of its fruits ?^ 

I answer- — Ail Christians alike receiv^e the knowledge 
of God in Xheu understandings^ and so far as they dothis^ 
so far the heavenly vine is implanted in them, and they 
become in some sense the vineyard of God ; but it dotli 
not follow from hence that all Christians partake alike 
of {he fruits of ike vineyard. 

We kn-ow, from the unerring testimony of the word op 
God, th^i there is the vine of Sodorn^^ as well as the vine 
of Sibmah;] — there is the strange 7;me,f as well as the 
noble ^ine;^^ — there is also the empty vine ;^ as well a^ 
the fruitful vine ; *^— and therefore, though every one 
is in some sense a vineyard of God, as having the hea^ 
verdy vine of the knowledge of God implanted in his 
understanding, yet the natui^e a.rA the fruit of this vvieis-- 



* Deut. xxxii. 32; 
f Isaiah xvi. 8, 9. . 
i Jer. il 2L_ 
\ Jer. ii. 21. 
fl Hosea x. 1. 
2*^* Isaiah jixxii, !w: 



4< THE HOUSEHOLDERr 

different with all, and will depend altogether upon other 
circumstances. 

In some cases this vine may be wholly barren and 
with mt fruit — in other cases it may yield fruit of a poi- 
sonous and noxious quality, which are the wild and sour 
grapes^ spoken of by the prophet, and the grapes of 
gal t described by Moses — -in other cases it may yield 
good grapes, from whence is produced that heavenly vine 
of which the Lord speaks to his disciples, when he saith, 
/ will drink no more henceforth of the fruit of the viney un- 
til that day when I drink it new with you in my Father'' s 
kingdom, J 

But methinks I hear you ask. What is the cause of 
this difference in the fruits of the vineyard? If the same 
vine of heaven be implanted in all, how comes it to pass 
that it doth not bring forth the sajne fruit in all, both 
in quantity and quality ? Can the vine of Sibmah be 
changed into the vine of Sodom ^ or can the choice vine be- 
come the strange vine ? 

I answer — Tiie nature and fruit of the vine must ever 
depend upon the nature of the soil or ground in which it 
:s implanted, and upon the culture thereof — or. to speak 
plainly, and without a metaphor, ^^haowledge of God and 
his truth, implanted in man's understanding, will ahvays 
take its quality and fruitfulness from the love of God and 
his goodness, as operative in mdiu's will and in his life, 

* Isaiah v. 4 Ezek. xviij. 2. 
t Deut. xxxii. 32. 
1 Matt, xxvi, 29. 




FLANGING A VINEYARD. 4S 

The knowledge of God without the love of God is 
totally barren, and can produce no fruit — the love of 
God is the only soil in which the^truth of God can pos- 
sibly grow and flaurish — *' If a man love me," saith the 
blessed Jesus, '' he will keep my words :"* the reason is; 
the love of Jesus delights in the words of Jesus, and 
therefore cherisheth and keepeth them ; but if this love 
be wanting, there is then nothing left by which the words 
or truth of Jesus can be kept ; the consequence is, they 
become barren, and unfruitful, and dead. 

Here then we may see^a reason why the choice vine 
Bfiay become a strange vine, and histead of bringing forth 
good grapes^ may bring forth wild grapes. If the know- 
ledge of God be not cherished by the love of God ; or ia 
other words, if the manifestation of the truth of God in 
man's understanding, be not cherished by the desire of 
heavenly good in his will, the consequence must certain* 
\j be, that the knowledge and the truth will be perverted 
and corrupted through the natural evils predominant in the 
mind. In this case there will either be no fruitfulness at 
all, or a fruitfulness in much evil and iniquity, as it is 
expressed in the prophet, " He looked for judgment, but 
behold oppression ; for righteousness, but behold a cry.^f 
and thus the nohle vine will be turned into a strange vine, 
as it is written in another prophet, '^ I had planted thee 
a noble vine, wholly aright seed; how then art thoti 
turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unte 

* John xiv. 2.3'o 
f Isaidh V. 7.! 
\JerAl2f/. 



4S THE HOUSEHOLDER 

To conclude. What hath been now said, beloved, 
demands your most serious consideration as Christians, 
and as men. In. each of you hath been planted, by the 
§7^€at householder, the heavenly vine of evangelical truth 
and knowledge. 

Your hearts are the respective vineyards in which this 
plant of heaven and immortality was intended to grow, 
and bring forth its blessed fruits, that you may eat 
thereof, and live for ever. 

You have no one concern either in time or in eternity, 
which will admit of the smallest comparison with that 
which respects this vine. 

If it flourishes and bears its proper fruit, all then will 
go well with you ; you will feed upon that fruit; you 
will be nourished by it in your inner man, with all the 
graces and virtues of an heavenly and everlasting life . 
the gre^i householder will bless it to you with his contin- 
ual blessing; and in the language of the inspired pen- 
man, "Your threshing shall reach to the vintage, and 
the vintage shall reach to the sowing time."* 

The contrary, however, must come to pass, if this, 
your heavenly vine, doth not flourish — in this case your 
spiritual life must perish with that which can alone sup- 
port it ; if your vine becomes a dead branch, ye will 
become dead branches also, and in you will be fulfilled 
that terrible prophecy of old, " They shall also build 
houses, but not inhabit them ; and they shall plant vine" 
yards, but not drink the wine thereof."! 

* Levit. xxvi. 5. 
tZeph.i.13, 



PLANTING A VINEYARD. 47 

Eut you ask, How then shall we so live, that our vine 
mdij flourish^ dindiXioi die? 

Infinitely important as the question is, it has been al- 
ready answered in what was observed above. Live so, 
that your knowledge of God may not be left destitute of 
the life and the love of God. To the truths of the Gos- 
pel which you have received, join the devout practice 
thereof, that so the evangelical powers and sanctities ma- 
nifested in your understandings^ may influence also your 
mils and your actions. For this purpose take heed of 
resting your salvation on mere thought or helief alone^ 
independent of work. Remember, that it is the supreme 
love or ruling desire^ which constitutes the man, and eve- 
ry man is, in the sight of God, what he principally loves 
or desires to be. If then you are wise to join holy love to 
holy knowledge^ and heavenly desires and doings to heaven" 
ly thoughts — if you are wis© to live the life of Christy as 
well as to understand the doctrine of Christy your vine 
will then assuredly live and flourish ; " the hills shall be 
xjovered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof 
shall be like the goodly cedar trees ;"* it shall give its 
fruity and its fruit shall nourish in you that everlasting 
life of righteousness, joy, and peace, which the great 
householder implanteth and supporteth in all those who 
cultivate his vineyard by keeping his commandments. 

AMEN- 

* Psalm Ixxx. 10^' 



(I 



CN THE 

HEDGE ROUND THE VINEYARD, 

IkS DENOTING A DISTINCTION OF PRINCIPLES IN THE 
KEGENERATE LIFE. 



SERMON VL 



Matt. xxi. 3^. 

Hear another parable : There was a certain housc' 
holder which planted a vineyard^ and hedged it 
round ahoat^ and digged a wine-press in it, and 
built a tower^ and let it out to husbandmen^ and 
went into afar country. 



In the two preceding discourses 1 have endeavoured to 
shew what we are here to understand by a certain house- 
holder^ and what by his planting a vineyard ; I shall now 
proceed to shew further what is the lesson of instruction 
intended for us in these words, He hedged it round 

about, 

F 



^(a) THE HOUSEHOLDER, 

That the hedge here spoken of has a spiritual signiji^ 
cation^ must be very plain to every intelligent mind, not 
only on account of its reference in this place to a spir- 
itual vineyard^ which is the Lord's church, but also be- 
cause it is frequently applied in such a spiritual sense in 
other parts of the sacred scriptures. 

Thus saith the Lord in Isaiah, speaking of the church, 
which through evil of life w^as become desolate, / will 
take away the hedge thereof,^ denoting its entire de- 
struction. Thus also in Ezekiel, speaking of lying or 
foolish prophets, the Lord saith, Ye have not gone up 
into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of 
Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord ;t 
where it must be very manifest that hedge was a spir- 
itual signification, because applied to ihe house of Israel^ 
which is the Lord's church. So again, speaking of the 
scarcity of goodness and truth in the church,, the Lord 
saith, / sought for a man among them that should make up 
the hedge, and stand in the gap before me, for the land, 
that I should not destroy it; but I found none.^ 

From these, and many other similar passages in the 
sacred scriptures, where mention is made of hedges, it 
must be very evident that somewhat spiritual relating to 
the Lord's kingdom, or church, is intended to be ex- 
pressed thereby. 

* Isaiah V. 5. 
f Ezek. xiii. 5, 
f Ezek. xtu, 89. 




THE HOUSEHOLDERe 51 

What that spiritual somewhat is, which is signified and 
expressed by hedges, will appear verj plain to the most 
ordinary understanding, from the consideration of a na- 
tural hedge, its end and use. 

Every one knows that a natural hedge has two uses; 
it is intended as a boundary of distinction or separation. 
and it is intended also as a houndarij of defence and 
security. 

This is the case also with the spiritual hedge, with 
which the vineyard or church of the great householder 
is encompassed. It is principally for these two pur- 
poses, first, for distinction or separation, and 2dly, for 
defence or security, 

I propose to consider the spiritual hedge, under both 
these views, and 1st, as it serves for distinction or sepa- 
ration in the heavenlj^ vineyard. 

It has been already shewn, in speaking of the great 
householder and of his household the church, how all 
mankind are divided into two great families, one con- 
sisting of those who fear and serve God in heart and 
life, the other of those who do not fear and serve God at 
all, but only in words and in gestures, * 

The spiritual hedge, in the most general sense of it, is 
what divides or separates between these two families^ 
thus distinguishing between the Lord's vineyard and 
what is 7iot the vineyard, so that they may be dearly 
known and discerned, the one from the other. 

This hedge of distinction and separation is known 
only unto God, and not at all unto man. The reason is, 
because it relates only to the spirits of men, or to the 



512 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

internal man, and not «o much to the natural or exiemaT 
man, and God alone is acquainted with the state of men's 
spirits, or of their internal man, according as it is writ- 
ten, / know my sheep. 

As to the external man, the hedge of distinction in the 
heavenly vineyard is not so manifest. The true mem* 
bers of the Lord's living body, the church, appear out- 
wardly like those who are not of the church ; they are 
engaged in the same outward callings and professions ; 
they have the same bodily wants and necessities to pro- 
vide for ; they join in the same forms and ordinances of 
external worship. 

In like manner they who are not of the church, ap- 
pear outwardly like those who are of the church ; they as- 
semble together in the same place to adore the same 
God ; they assume the same external appearances of re- 
verence and devotion ; they join in the same prayers, 
read the same holy scriptures, partake of the same sacra- 
ments, and repeat the same professions of belief in one 
eternal God. 

But notwithstanding this want of distinction and dis- 
crimination in externals, between those who are not of 
the church, and those who are of the church ; notwith- 
-.tanding //ze tco/f may assume the shecp^s clothitig , a.nd the 
sheep may be outwardly associated with the wolf, so 
that they cannot be known asunder by man ; yet, in the 
sidit of God, and accordinoj to the eternal distinctions 
of the spiritual mind in regard to God and his kingdom, 
the hedge of discrimination in the heavenly vineyard is 



ft 



THE HOUSEHOLDER, 



drawn so clearly and precisely, that the boundary can 
never be mistaken. 

T/ie Lord, it is therefore written, knoweth the way of 
the righteous,'^ " He discerneth between the right' 
eous and the wicked, between him that serveth 
God, and him that serveth him not."t His all-pierc- 
ing eye is fixed perpetually upon man's internal 
mind ; he looketh, not so much at the external act^ as at 
the intention in which it originates ; he sees the objects 
in which man^s affections centre, and he judges of him 
accordingly ; he doth not so much regard 'ByorcT*, verbal 
professions, external forms and ceremonies, bodily gestures^ 
and such like outward semblances of devotion, for all 
these things, he knows, may be nothing more than the 
whitening of the sepulchre, or like the fruit of the true 
vine artificially tied on the thorn and bramble ; but what 
God principally regards at all times is the heart of man^ 
or in other words, his ruling love, his fixed and deliberate 
principle of thought and action, the great end of life^ 
whether temporal or eternal, which he hath chosen for 
himself. When man therefore offers up prayers and 
praises, God looketh how much there is of life and Love 
in those things ; when man reads or hears the holy 
scriptures, God notes his secret purpose in so doing, and 
how his will is affected thereby ; when man repeats pro- 
fessions of faith, God's eye is upon the real persuasion 
of his understanding in those professions. Thus it 

* Psalm i. 6. 
^Mal.iii. 18. 

F2 



54 THE HOUSEHOLDER* 

is that the divine householder separates between tbe 
pure and the vile, between the clean and the unclean, 
and draws a hedge of manifest and eternal distinction 
round about his vineyard. 

But there is jet another sense in which the hedge of 
the spiritual vineyard may be understood, as a boundary 
of separation and distinction, to which I could wish to 
turn your present attention, because of its peculiarly edi- 
fying importance. 

The sense I mean is in regard to every indii'idual 
man, considered as an individual church or vineyard of 
the Lord. 

It has been already shewn, in speaking of the vine- 
yard planted by the great householder, that every rege- 
nerate man becomes a church or household of God vii 
particular, answering in all respects to the church or 
household of God in general. 

Of consequence, as in the general vineyard Xhexe \s 
a hedge of distinction and separation, so it is also in the 
particidar vineyard; and every real member of the 
church, whether he is aware of it or not, must of neces- 
sity, as being an individtiai vineyard of the great house- 
holder, be encompassed by such a hedge. 

Possibly, beloved, you may never have before con- 
sidered this subject, nor have thought about this spiritual 
hedge in your own minds. It is time then that yoii 
should now consider it, because, as being an eternal truth 
declared in the word of God, is must needs be infinitely 
interesting and instructive to you, as to your eternal 
concerns. 



THE HOUSEHOLDER. 5£ 

Know then, and be forever persuaded, that if you are 
vineyards of the Lord in particular, or, in other words^ 
if you have received his word of eternal life into your 
hearts and understandings, your minds are in this case 
encompassed with an eternal hedge of separation and 
distinction^ whereby you are manifestly and everlasting- 
ly discriminated from those who are not of the vine- 
yard. 

By virtue of this hedge, the mark of the eternal God 
is in your foreheads, and you are sealed to be his for eter- 
nity. You are the blessed sheep of his heavenly foldp 
and are for ever separated from those who are not his 
sheep. '' They are not of the world," saith the Lord 
of the vineyard of his true disciples, *' even as I am not 
of the world,"* Thus also he saith of you, " Ye are not 
of the world." Ye are separated from its vanities and 
vices, from its delusive pleasures, and fleeting uncer- 
tainties, from the dazzling splendour of its enchanting 
glory, and the no less dangerous fear of its frowns and 
reproaches. And ye are born into another kingdom, ye 
belong to another family, ye are the members of ano- 
ther household, ye have higher ends of life, more blessed 
hopes and expectations, than this world can supply you 
with. As to your outward man, ye rnust indeed still for 
a time remain and act in the world, and for a time ap- 
pear like those who are not of the vineyard ; but as to 
your internal man, ye are chosen out of the world, ye are 
encompassed within the hedge of my vineyard j I know 

* John XV ii, rt. 



^6 ^HE HOUSEHOLDER. 

vou to be mij onm, and will preserve you as a sepa^ 
rate and distinct people. 

But this is not the only sense, in which, as being 
vineyards of the great householder in particular, you 
are encompassed individually with the spiritual hedge 
of separation and distinction. There is yet another 
sense, and this is an infinitely instructive one, in which, 
according to the words in my text^ou may be thus said 
to be hedged round about. 

If the Word of God had its right and full effect upon 
your minds and lives, you must needs have perceived 
somewhat of this separation and distinction effected in 
yourselves. As for example; you were once merely 
natural men, and had only natural minds, whilst you 
were seeking natural things alone, and loving this world 
more than God and heaven ; but now, if you have re- 
ceived ihe Word of God, and are thereby become his 
vineyard, ye are become new and spiritual men, and 
have your spiritual mind opened and formed, and are 
desiring and seeking after spiritual things. 

I say, then, in this case, ye must have perceived in 
yourselves somewhat oi distinction and separation. Ye 
must have seen how the new man in yourselves is dis- 
tinct from the old man. Ye must have observed the 
boundaries of each principle: ye must have discrimi- 
nated between them, marking their essential differences 
and disagreem.ents : ye must have noted how they are 
contrary, the one to the other ; how the one delights in 
wisdom', the other in folly; how the one loves God 



^ 



THE- HOUSEHOLDER. 57 



and its neighbour, the other only itself and tha world ; 
hovt^ the one is an heir of salvation and eternal life, the 
©ther of condemnation and eternal misery. Thus ye 
must have seen and perceived the hedge of separation 
and distinction in your vineyard, between the new mind 
and the old, between the clea?i and the unclean, between 
'' the man of God, thoroughly furnished unto every 
good work," and ''the man of sin, who opposeth and 
exalteth huiaself above all that is called God, or that is 
worshipped." 

I could now proceed to point out further boundaries 
®f distinction and separation, which take place and form 
a hedge in the vineyard of the great householder, both 
generally and individually ; but leaving these to be the 
subject of your own meditation, I shall conclude my 
present discourse with a few remarks on what has been 
already said. 

And, 1st, If all mankind be divided into two great 
families, of which one is the Lord's vineyard, and the 
other is not the vineyard ; and if these two families be 
totally distinct and separate from each other, being 
divided by an eternal hedge or boundary ; how careful 
and concerned ought we to be, to which of these two 
families we belong I How anxiously, how scrupulously 
ought we to examine and consider with ourselves, on 
which side of the hedge we stand ; whether on the side 
within the vineyard, or on the side without the vineyard , 
from a firm and full conviction, that ojr state in eternity 
will depend upon the sincerity of such examination and 
consideration ! 



.ja THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

And, 2dly, If, as vineyards of the Lord in particu- 
lar, we are each of us encompassed individually with 
a hedge of distinction and separation in our own minds, 
whereby we are not only divided from the z:)orld, but 
are also divided from ourselves, having the principles 
of our own minds separated and discriminated, the one 
from the other ; if this, I say, be the case, (and the 
Word of God assures us that it is,) how ought we then 
to be continually looking at this eternal hedge in our- 
selves ! How ought we to examine it, lest at any time 
it should be broken donm, and our vineyard laid w^aste ! 
How anxiously ought we to pray and labour, that it may 
be preserved entire, and if at any time it be broken, that 
it may be quickly and eflfectuaily repaired ! 

Without a hedge,, it is most certain, there can be no 
vineyard^ and without distinction and separation there 
can be no church. Whensoever the people of God be- 
come mixed and confounded with those who are of the 
world, they will soon cease to be the people of God. 
It is so likewise in an individual sense. No one can 
possibly be a living member of Christ, unless he dis- 
tinguishes in himself, between what is of Christ, and 
what is not of Christ, and sees clearly this distinction. 
This is the great and sole difference between the mere 
natural man and the spiritual; the natural man makes 
no such discrimination of principles in himself, and 
therefore remains a natural man ; but the spiritual man 
both makes the discrimination, and notes it well when 
he has made it. 



THE HOUSEHOLDER. $9 

May the God of eternal mercy, the great house- 
holder, give us all grace to act herein according to the 
dictates of his own eternal wisdom, that so we may con- 
tinually rejoice, not only in seeing and confessing that 
we are the vineyard of his planting y but also that h@ 
hath hedged it round about,* AMEN^ 



ON 

THE HEDGE 

ROUND ABOUT THE VINEYARD, 

AS DENOTING SPIRITUAL DEFENCE. 



SERMON VIL 



Matt. xxi. 33. 

Hear another parable : There was a certain house" 
holder which planted a vineyard^ and hedged it 
round about^ and digged a wine-press in it^ and 
built a tower^ and let it out to husbandinen^ and 
went into a far country^ 



It has been already shewn what we are here to under- 
stand by a certain householder ; what by his planting a 
vineyard ; and what by his hedging it round about. 

The householder is the Lord ; the vineyard is his 
church ; and the hedge with which it is encompassed, is 

that boundary of separation and defence^ whereby 'the 

G 



62 THE HOUSEHOLDER 

vineyard is distinguished from what is not the vineyard, 
and, inconsequence of such distinction, is protected and 
secured. 

It has been already shewn further, in what way and 
manner the hedge about the vineyard fs a boundary of 
separation and distinction. It remains now to be consi- 
dered in what way and manner it is a boundary of de- 
fence and protection. 

The subject, it must be confessed, is of the utmost 
importance, and will be regarded as such by every think- 
ing mind ; and yet, perhaps, there is no subject which 
is in general so little attended to, even by those very 
persons ^vho are most interested in the consideration 
of it. 

Every one may see, that without defence^ the church 
of God, whether regarded generally or individually, must 
needs perish. Where there is no protection, there can 
be no salvation. The enemies of the church are conti- 
nually active to destroy, and they will destroy, if they be 
not guarded against. Can a city stand in the siege, with- 
out waUs ? Or can a vineyard be secure without a hedge ? 
No more can the church withstand its various adversa- 
ries without the means of withstanding them. 

But though all this be seen clearly, and is obvious to 
the most ordinary understanding; yet iew comparative- 
ly, even of those perhaps who are within the church, con- 
sider aright wherein its defence consisieth. They confess 
that it c:ir\not stciDd without protectio7i ; but they do not 
know, so as to apprehend distinctly, what is the nature 
of that protection. Some satisfy themselves with think- 



THE HEDGE. 63 

fiig and saying, that this protection is of the divine pi^ovi- 
dence, and that God himself is the defence of his church. 
But such persons do not perhaps consider, that the divine 
providence never operates but in and according to 'divine 
order, and that God himself never acts but by and through 
appointed means of acting. 

It is true indeed, and must be eternally true, that 
without God and his providence, the church cannot be 
protected ; no, not for a moment : but it is equally and 
alike true, that God and his providence cannot protect 
the church without the means of protection. For, let me 
ask, what is the reason ''why any churches, since the 
foundation of the world, have grown corrupt, and perish- 
ed, as we know hath been the case with many ? What 
brought destruction formerly upon the church at Jeriisa- 
ler,i, the church at Jilexandria, the church at Aniioch, and 
others. God and his providence, we may be very sure, 
must have he^n operative to the uttermost, to prevent 
guch destruction ; and could the divine operation alone 
have been effectual, not a single church would have suf- 
fered injury. The real cause, then, of the ruin of these 
churches was, not because they wanted the protection of 
God and his providence, but because they were leit 
without those means of defence, that hedge of the spiri- 
tual vineyard, without which God and his providence 
could not defend. 

But to bring this matter nearer to ourselves. It has 
been already shewn, in speaking of the spiritual vine- 
yard^ that every individual person, who receives the 
truth of God, and his word, in his heart and understand- 



64 THE HOUSEHOLDER 

ing, is an individual churchy and may be considered as ' 
such. But let me ask. now, What is the reason why 
some of these individual churches fall to decay, and come 
to destruction, whilst others stand firm and secure ?— 
What is the reason why one man yields to temptation, 
and another does not yield to it ; why one is overcome of 
evil, and another overcomes it ; why some have power 
and strength to have victory, and to triumph against the 
devil, the world, and thejlesh, whilst others are so weak 
and powerless, that, instead of spiritual victory and tri- 
umph, they are the continual subjects of spiritual capti- 
vity and imprisonment ? — God and his providence are 
alike w^atchful over all, and vv^illing to protect all ; and 
therefore the cause of the difference in the above cases 
cannot be imputed to God : it must then be imputed 
solely to this — that some men are provided with the 
means of spiritual defence, whilst others are not provided 
with them. 

From these considerations, a question of infinite mag- 
nitude will naturally arise in the mind of every serious 
person, who has any real concern about his eternal well- 
being, viz. What are the true means of spiritual protec- 
tion and defence; and how may we so order our lives 
and conversations as to acquire those means ? 

Weighty as this question is, it has its full and com- 
plete answer in the words of my text, well understood, 
respecting the hedge of the spiritual vineyard, as I shall 
now proceed briefly to shew. 

It has been already seen, how, by the hedge of the 
spiritual vineyard is meant a boundary of separation and 



THE HEDGr. ' 65 

distinction^ to divide it from that which is not the vine- 
yard. 

This boundary of separation and distinction, whether 
considered generally or individually, implies, that the 
church notes and marks vv^ell in itself, the distinct quali- 
ties of good and evil — that it discriminates carefully be- 
tween w^hat is of God, and what is not of God — that it 
separates, with the nicest discernment, between the clean 
and the unclean, between the precious and the vile — 
that, in short, it ascertains and establishes in itself, 
the eternal limits of the kingdom of heaven, as founded 
in the eternal laws of justice and judgment, goodness 
and truth ; and the eternal limits also of the opposite 
kingdom of darkness, as founded in all the ignorance, er- 
ror, and mischief of unsanctified thoughts and impure af- 
fections. 

Behold here, then, the true and the only means of the 
churches defence and protection^ whether it be regarded 
in a general or in a particular view ! 

It is to keep it hedged about with this hedge of eternal 
separation and distinction, that so it may not be mixed 
and confounded with that which is not the churck, but be 
kept at all times in the most perfect state of distinction 
and discrimination. 

You are surprised to hear, that separation and distinc- 
tion can be any cause and means of spiritual defence and 
protection. It is necessary, then, that I be a little more 
particular in explaining myself. 

Know, then, and be fully assured, from the authority 
of the word of God, that there is but one cause or ground 
Q2 



Q6 THE HOUSEHOLDER 

of all spiritual weakness and infirmity, and that is, a» 
evil love and an evil life ; or, in other words, evil and 
corrupt affections, joined to foolish and unwise thoughts, 
w4iich have no higher origin, and regard no higher end, 
than the world and the flesh. 

On the other hand, know, and be alike fully assured, 
from the same high authority, that there is but one cause 
or ground of all spiritual strength and stability, and that 
is, a righteous love and a righteous life ; or, in other 
words, righteous and pure affections, joined to all heaven- 
ly knowledge and truth, which have both their origin 
and their end in the eternal God, the Father of the spi- 
rits of all flesh. 

If you examine the subject ever so attentively, and 
with ever so deep a reach of thought and understanding, 
you will never be able to discover any other source or 
cause of spiritual weakness and of spiritual strength^ than 
the above. 

Here, then, you may see clearly, i[ you are so dis- 
posed, the truth of what was just now asserted, that spi- 
ritual separation and distinction are the sure and only 
means of spiritual defence and protection. 

For separation and distinction alone tend to remove 
all evil love, all impure affections, all foolish thoughts, 
and thereby all spiritual infirmity. On the other hand, 
ihej tend to exalt and to establish all holy love, all hea- 
venly affections, all wise and sanctified thoughts, and 
thereby all spiritual strength and stability. 

If you inquire, therefore, what is the true cause wby 
my church; at any time, has become weak, and hats thu5 



THE HEDGE. G7 

perished for want of defence, you will never be able to 
discover any other than this : — It has not attained to, and 
preserved due separation and distinction — it has not been 
careful to keep its spiritual principles of life and Iov€^ 
unmixed and unconfused— it has suffered the earthy and 
worldly principles to enter in and defile the heavenly — 
it has let the selfish and carnal affections of an unholy 
love pollute the celestial and spiritual affections of the 
love of God. Impurity hath thus been mingled with 
purity, folly with wisdom, earlh with heaven, weakness 
with strength, darkness with light, death with life. — ' 
There has been no discrimination, no separation, no pu- 
rification ; of consequence, there could be no defence ; 
and the spiritual vineyard being thus left without a hedge ^ 
it must needs follow, that " all they that go by would 
pluck off her grapes : the wild boar out of the wood 
would -root it up, and the wild beasts of the field de- 
vour it."^ 

On the other hand, if you inquire what is the true 
cause why any church, whether in a general or indivi- 
dual sense, has at any time prospered, and been defend- 
ed and protected against its spiritual foes, you will never 
be able to discover any other than this : — It has attained 
to, and maintained, due separation and distinction of spi- 
ritual principles in itself — it has *' set to each its bouridsy 
that it cannot pass^' — it has divided, with exact discrimi- 
nation, between tiie heavenly and the earthy, the spiri- 
tual and the natural, the wise and the unwise, the living 

* Psalm Ixxx. 12, 13. 



<>S THE HOUSEHOLDER 

and the dead — it bath not suffered in itself any abomina* 
ble mixtures of the pure and impure ; but noting all it3 
affections and thoughts, what is their distinct nature, ori- 
gin, and end, and arranging them accordingly, it has 
brought them all into the subordination of order. Thus 
it has provided for itself an eternal hedge of defence and 
protection ; whereby it is made that blessed church, of 
which it is written, *' The gates of hell shall not prevail 
against it.''* 

To conclude. Do you wish, beloved, (1 address you 
as a church in general, and also each as a church in par- 
ticular ;) do you wish that your spiritual vineyard should 
be ever secure and protected, and thereby bring forth its 
proper fruits of eternal peace and comfort in your own 
minds ? Remember then well, whence true protection 
Cometh, that it is from the great almighty Redeemer 
alone, through the means of spiritual separation and dis- 
tinction ! Remember also, that in all mixture there is 
weakness; in all confusion there is infirmity. Nothing 
causeth strength but arrangeraent and order ; and arrange- 
ment and order cannot have place without previous sepa- 
ration and discrimination. Begin then with noting well 
the several principles of life and love in yourselves, ac- 
cording to the light which is given you from above. And 
when you have well noted and marked them, so as {^ 
know each distinctly from the other, then give to each 
its proper place and arrangement. Let the love of God 
and of your neighbour be above all, and distinct from 

* Matt. xvi. 18. 



\i 



THE HEDGE. 69 

all. Let every other love administer and be subordinate 
thereto. Observe the sanrie regulation as to your know- 
ledges. Let the knowledge of God be accounted dis- 
tinct from, and more excellent than every other know- 
ledge ; and take heed that every other knowledge be 
kept in a state of inferiority and subjection thereto. 
Worldly knowledge will not hurt you, nor worldly affec- 
tion, only so far as you suffer them to mix themselves 
with heavenly knowledge and heavenly affection. If 
they so njix themselves, you are undone ; your spiritual 
life must perish in the mixture, as a vineyard without a 
hedge. But if you are wise to . keep them unmixed, so 
as always to distinguish them asunder, and to set the 
heavenly above the earthy, the spiritual above the natu- 
ral, the pure above the impure ; all then will go well 
with you, and your vineyard will be preserved and 
flourish. 

Remember, then, the hedge of the spiritual vineyard, 
and you will then always dwell safely under the divine 
protection, and be enabled to sing continually that blessed 
song, '' The Lord is my light and my salvation : whom 
then shall I fear ? The Lord is the strength of my life : 
©f whom then shall I be afraid ?"* AMEN= 

* Psalm xsvii. L 



ON THE 

SPIRITUAL WINE-PRESS, 

4S DENOTING AN EXAMINATION OF THE MOTIVES WHICH 
GIVE BIRTH TO ACTIONS. 



SERMON VIIL 



Matt. xxi. 33. 



Hear another parable : There was a certain house- 
holder which planted a vineyard^ and hedged it 
round about, and digged a wine-press in it^ and 
built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen^ and 
went into a far country. 

It has been already considered, what is here meant by 
a certain householder^ what by the vineyard he plantedy 
and what by the hedge with which' he hedged it round 
about. I shall now proceed to shew further, the edify- 
ing lesson of wisdom and instruction intended for us in 
the next operation ascribed to the householder, respect- 
ing his vineyard; where it is said, He " digged a wine- 
press in it. 



72 THE HOUSEHOLDER 

That the wine-press here spoken of, as well as the hedge 
already explained, hath a spiritual signification, and is 
to be understood spiritually, is very plain, not only from 
its relation to the vineyard, whereby is meant the Lord's 
spiritual church, but also because it is spiritually applied 
in other parts of the sacred scriptures. 

Thus, in Isaiah, speaking of the church which the 
Lord had planted, it is written, '' My well-beloved hath 
a vineyard in a very fruitful hill ; and he planted it with 
the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, 
and also made a wine-press therein."* Thus also in JoeK 
speaking of the church which was overflowed with wick- 
edness, " Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe : 
get ye down, for the press is full, the vats overflow, for 
their wickedness is great."! So again, in the prophet 
Hosea, speaking of the church which was become deso- 
late, " The floor and the wine-press shall not feed them, 
and the new wine shall deceive them. "J Lastly, in Je- 
remiah, describing the church's destruction through the 
prevalence of evil and of false doctrines, " The spoiler 
is fallen upon thy vintage : I have caused wine to fail 
from the wine-presses ; none shall tread with shouting j 
their shouting shall be no shouting."§ 

In all the above passages, it must be very plain to 
every thinking mind, that by wine-press, somewhat spiri- 
tual, relating to the Lord's spiritual church, is intended 

* Isaiah v. 1,2. 
f Joel iii. 13. 
X Hosea ix. 1, 2. 
\ Jer. xlviii. 32^ 33. 



THE WINE-PRESS. 73 

to be expressed ; otherwise, how could it ever have 
been mentioned in. the word of God, which can only 
treat of things spiritual and divine ? 

But though the reason of every serious mind may 
see evidently, that somewhat spiritual must needs be 
signified by a wine-press, whensoever mention is made 
of it in the Word of God ; yet it will not, perhaps, be 
so easy to see what that spiritual somewhat is, which is 
signified. None can see this, but they who well con- 
sider the subject in their own minds ; and none will 
well consider the subject, but they who, from a sense 
of the infinite importance of the things of God, are led 
continually to say, with the holy man of old, " Teach 
me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes, and I shall keep 
it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall 
keep thy law ; yea, I shall keep it with my whole 
heart."* 

Howbeit, since it is of the utmost importance that 
the Word of God should be clearly seen and under- 
stood ; and since I am fully persuaded, beloved, there 
are many amongst you, wdio are desirous to see and un- 
derstand it, that so you may profit by it in your lives, 
and attain unto the blessedness and purity of that wis- 
dom which is from above; I shall gladly endeavour, in 
my following discourse, to open to your view the true 
sense and signification of the wine-press spoken of in 
my text, and thereby lead you to all that spiritual in- 
struction and edification which the word was intended 
to convey. 

*=4'salm cxix. 33, 34. 

H 



74 THE HOUSEHOLDER 

Every one can see what is the use of a natural 
wine-press, and from hence the serious and thoughtful 
mind will at once clearly discover what is meant hv 
the spiritual z^ine-press. 

The natural zi'ine-press, we know, is necessary to 
separate the juice of the grape from its grosser and 
more impure parts. Hence the true nature and quality 
of the grape is discovered and made known. Hence 
also zi'ine is produced, which is a substance altogether 
different from the grape itself. Thus by means of the 
zjijie-press we are enabled to discern and to distinguish 
the good grape from the evil grape, the sweet from 
the sour, the ripe from the unripe, which were not 
before distin;:iuishable. And thus also we are further 
enabled to procure a liquor of excellent and extraordi- 
nary quality, and of singular use to the life of man, if 
it be properly and moderately applied. 

Beloved, let not nature, or rather the God of nature, 
give us instruction in vain. Let us hearken to the 
voice of the zcine-press. Let us ponder the lessons 
of the eternal wisdom which it teacheth, that we also 
may be wise and live. 

'V^'ho cannot see, if he be so disposed, from the use 
of the natural zvine-press, what is meant by the spi- 
rituid zcine -press ? Who cannot discern, that the spiri- 
tucU uine-press is nothing else but serious consideration 
and careful examination of our zi-orks in the sight of 
Gouj and by the light of his JVord, that so we may 
discover their real and true quality, whether they are 
2'XjJ or evi! ? 



THE WlNE-rRESS. 7d 

Hf*' Let me bespeak your most earnest attention to 
this meaning and use of the spirimal xscine-press. 

It has been already abundant] j shewn, that Lj 
■}\Q vineyard is meant the church, both generally/and 
individually. The fruits of if 12 vineyard then, or 
grapes, must needs mean the rror/cs of the church, or, 
what is the same thing, the works of those who consti- 
tute the church. But the fruits of the vineyard may 
be of divers qualities. They may be szveet ^x^d pure 
grapes, or they may be sour and zcUd grapes ; and 
no one can distinguish from their outward appear- 
ance what is their quality, whether they be sweet 
and jowre, or whether they be sour Siud wild. 

It is the same with man's works — they also are of 
different qualities— some men do good works, which 
are really good in the sight of God ; — others do works 
which appear like good works outwardly, but are not 
so inwardly — they are good in the sight of men, but 
they are not good in the sight of God : and therefore 
it is written of these works, " I have not found thy 
works perfect before God."^ 

But how now shall we know the difference between 
a work which is really and inwardly good in the sight 
of God, and a work which is only outwardly good in 
the sight of men ? 

The question is of infinite concern to ali who are 
seeking salvation and eternal life, inasmuch as salva- 
tion and eternal life can belong only to those whose 
works are good in the sight of God. 

-*' Ilev. iji. 2. 



76 THE HOUSEHOLDER 

Howbeit, the answer to the question is plain — Bring 
your works to the spiritual 'wine-press, as you bring 
your grapes to the natural wine-press. The natural 
wine-press, you know, separates the pure Juice of the 
grape from its grosser parts, and thereby discovers its 
true quality. Even so the spiritual wine-press of seri- 
ons consideration and attentive examination of your 
works wiil separate the spirit of them from their exter- 
nal appearances, and will thus soon discover to you 
what is their inward quality, whether they are good, 
or not good, in the sight of God. 

This is what the Lord meant when he said, " Every 
one that doeth evil, hateth the light, neither cometh to 
the light, lest his deeds should be reproved ; but he 
ihat doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may 
fiC made manifest, that they are wrought in God/^ 

Beloved, you are every day doing some kind of 
works, or bringing forth some kind of fruit in your spi- 
ritual vineyard. These works, or this fruit, must be 
either good or evil ; they must therefore either be such 
as will save you, or such as will condemn you ; they 
must be either bringing you nearer towards God and 
heaven, or separating you further from Gad and hea« 

VCIK 

But have you ever been at the pains to discover the 
internal natm^e and quality of these your works ? Have 
you ever, for this purpose, brought them to the spiritual 
wine-press? Do you know thereby whether your 
works be of God. and wrought in God, or of your- 

^ John lu. 20. 21 



THE WINE-PRESS* 77 

selves, and wrought in yourselves, without God ? Do 
you discern what is within in your works, what spirit it 
is, whether it be the spirit of heaven, or the spirit of 
hell ; whether it be light or darkness, good or evil, life 
or death? 

If you have not as yet made any such examination 
of your works, nor any such discovery of their inter- 
nal spirit, wo then be unto you ! for ye have every 
reason in the world to suppose, in this case, that your 
works are inwardly evil, howsoever they may appear 
outwardly good. At least ye must needs be in igno- 
rance of their quality, and of consequence cannot 
know but ye may be hatching cockatrice eggs, and wea- 
ving the spider'' s web, of which it is written, '' He that 
eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed, 
breaketh out into a viper."* For without serious exami- 
nation, how is it possible you should tell whether the 
viper be in your works or not ? how can you discern 
whether your grapes be of the vine of Sibmah, or of 
the vine of Sodom ? whether they be of the clusters of 
Eshcol, or grapes of gall, whose clusters are bitter ? 

But widely different will be the case with you, if ye 
are wise to dig the wine-press in your spiritual vine- 
yard, and to use it according to the blessed purposes 
for which it was intended. In this case you will at 
all times be enabled to see and know the true quality 
of your works, and what is in them. Whilst by seri- 
ous examination you bring them to the light, that you 
may know of a truth whether they are wrought in God 
or not, God will assuredly manifest to you their inter . 

* Isaiah lix. 5, * 

H 2 



'o THE HOUSEHOLDER 

nal spirit. You will know thus of a certainty what fe 
in them, whether the lamh or the -viper, the dove or 
the owl, the angel of heaven, or the spirit of darkness. 
You will no longer mistake the" sour grape for the sweet 
grape^ the pure for the wild, but will discern Tclearly, 
to your unspeakable joy, what fruit your viee yield- 
eth. # 

But this is not all : — by means of the natural wine- 
press, it has been shewn, there is produced winey 
which is a substance totally distinct from the grape, 
and of which it is written, " that it maketh glad the 
heart of man."* This extraordinary effect is not con- 
fined to the natural xaine press ; it belongs, in a super- 
eminent sense, to the spiritual wine-press also. Make 
but the experiment, and you will be convinced, to your 
unspeakable joy, of the truth of this observation. 
Bring all your deeds to the light, by serious explora- 
tion and examination, that they may he made manifest 
thai they are wrought in God. In this case, you will 
find a separation will be effected between the mere ex- 
ternal work, and the internal spirit or principle frona 
whence it proceeds. This internal spirit or principle, 
thus discovered, is the spiritual wine produced from 
your grapes, which will indeed make glad your hearts ; 
for who will not be made glad of heart by the disco- 
very, that his works are wrought in God ? who will 
not rejoice to see that his vine thus bringeth forth good 
grapes ? Thus all your works will bring their blessing 
with them, because from all your works, thus explored^ 

^ Psalm civ. \S. 



THE WINE-PRESS^ 79 

and examined in the sight of God, you will be ena- 
bled to extract from your spiritual drinking and nour- 
fshment that heavenly wine, of which it is written, 
" Ephraim shall be like a mighty one, and their heart 
shall rejoice as through wine : yea, their children 
shall see and be glad ; and their heart shall rejoice in 
the Lord/'* AMEN. 

* Zech. X. 7. 



©?; THE 

SPIRITUAL TOWER, 

A^ DENOTING THE ELEVATION OF TKUTHj AND THB 
PROTEC nON THENCE DSHIVED. 



SERMON IX. 



Matt. xxi. 33v 

Hear another parable : There was a certain house- 
holder which planted a vinet/ard, and hedged 
it round about^ and digged a wine-press in it. 
ecnd built a tower ^ and let it out to husbandmen, 
and went into a far coivrdry^ 

KS%. ^iJB 

In the foregoing discoai^es it has heen shewn whai 
is here to be undersiocd by a certain householder^ 
what by the vineyard (Schick he planted^ what by his 
hedging it round about, and what by his digging a wine-- 
press in it» 

I shall now proceed , as was betoie intended, to the 
consideration of the n^i'^X p^^l'^^'lar respecting this 



82 THE HOUSEHOLDER 

vineyard, viz. the building a to-wer in it^ and endea- 
vour to lay open the lesson of heavenly wisdom and 
instruction which this circumstance involves. 

It has been already shewn, that the whole of this 
parable, together with all its parts, hath a spiritual 
signification, in which it has reference to the Lord and 
his church, both generally and individually. This is 
the case also in respect to the tozver, which is here 
said to be built in the vineyard by the householder. 
Like the hedge and the wine-press before spoken of, 
it hath likewise a spiritual sense and meaning; and* 
unless it be understood accordingly, it is impossible 
to see any reason why the building thereof should be 
recorded in this divine and instructive parable. 

Much mention is made of towers in other parts of 
the sacreJ writings, by which it may plainly appear, 
to every considerate mind, that jsomewhat spiritual, re- 
lating to God and his kingdom, is implied therein. 

Thus the psalmist saith, " The Lord is my rock 
and my fortress, and my deliverer ; my buckler, and 
the horn of my salvation, and my high tower ;"^ where ^. 
the v/ord tower cannot possibly be understood in a na- I 
tural, but in a spiritual sense. Again, it is written m 
Isaiah, speaking of the effects of the Lord's coming, 
" The day of the Lord shall be upon every high tow- 
er :"t where it must be manifest, that by tower is 
meant something spiritual respecting the Lord's church, 
inasmuch as no other tower could possibly be affected 

* Pgilm xviii. 2. 
f Isaiah H. 15^ 



THE TOWER, 83 

hy the Lord's coming. This is expressed still more 
fully and stronglj in Micah, speaking of the blessings 
which would flow to the church from the Lord's ap- 
pearing, where it is said, " And thou, O tower of the 
flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion. unto 
Ihee shall it come, even the first dominion f * where it 
must be very evident, that by tower of the fiock some- 
w^hat spiritual, relating to the Lord's church and king- 
dom, must needs be expressed and described. Several 
other passages might, if needful, be adduced from the 
sacred scriptures, where the word tower is used accord- 
ing to a spiritual sense and signification ; but the above 
will, I trust, be suflicient to prove, that the word, as 
applied in the parable under consideration, is to be in- 
terpreted spiritually, and not naturally. 

What the word tower implies in a spiritual sense, 
can only be discovered from considering the use and 
design of a natural tower. This use and design is 
twofold ; the natural tower is both for observation and 
for defence : by its height it gives an opportunity of 
taking a large and comprehensive view of the country 
around, and thereby of discovering the approach of an 
enemy ; and by its strength it affords protection and se- 
curity against an enemy when he approaches. 

This is precisely the case with the spiritual tower, 
only with this difference, that the spirih^al tower is for 
spiritual observation and defence ; enabling its inhabi- 
tant to take a large and comprehensive view of spiritual 
regions, and thereby to note the approach of spiritual 
enemies, and to guard against them. 
* Micah iv. 8. 



8d THE HOUSEHOLDER 

The spiritual tauer therefore is constructed of ail 
those interior truths of the word of God, whereby the 
soul hath elevation into a higher or interior state of life, 
and in consequence of such elevation, is enabled both 
to discover its interior evils, and also to fight against 
and overcome them. 

Permit me to call your most earnest attention to the 
very important nature, use, and design, of the spiri- 
tual tower as thus opened and explained. 

Perhaps you have never heretofore considered the 
subject, nor been rightly affected by its extraordinary 
weight and consequence. Perhaps you have never as 
yet examined your own minds, with the view of dis- 
covering whether the spiritual tower be built in you or 
not. Perhaps you have never seen the danger of not 
building this tower, and how in this case your spiri- 
tual vineyard is liable at all times to be laid waste by 
those interior evils, which can never be detected, and 
thereby guarded against, but by means of this tower. 
And lastly, perhaps, you have never been at the pains 
to examine the nature of those interior truths of the 
word of God, which are necessary for the construction 
of this spiritual tower ^ and without which it cannot 
possibly be either constructed, or preserved. 

It is high time then assuredly, that you should now 
give a serious ^attention to these subjects, under an aw- 
ful apprehension that they are immediately connected 
with your eternal well-being. For unless this had 
been the case — unless the building of the spiritual 
tower had been absolutely necessary for your eterr:/ 



THE TOWER. 85 

S;alvation, there would never have been any mention 
made of it iu the Word of God, 

It is impossible, however, that you can form any just 
idea or apprehension of the spiritual tower ^ unless you 
are previously acquainted with the nature of those in- 
Urior truths of God's Word, whereof it is constructed. 
May 1 bespeak your attention, then, in the first place, 
to this consideration. 

Your own reflection may teach and convince you, if 
you will make a proper use of it, that man's salvation 
depends solely on his reception of the truths of God's 
Word in his heart and life. Where there is no recep- 
tion of those truths, there can be no salvation, because 
there are no means, in such case, whereby Grod can 
operate salvation, which consists in the removal of evil 
from man, and the implantation of good. But where 
there is a due reception of the truths of God's Word, 
in the heart and life, there salvation is a certain con- 
sequence, because there God operates to the extirpa- 
tion of all evil, and the implantation of all the saving 
good of his own mercy, love, and truth. 

Your own reflection may teach and convince you 
further, if you be disposed to make use of it, that re- 
ception of the truths of God's Word is twofold, exter- 
nal and internal. Some people receive those truths 
only externally, that is, in the rnernory, and not so much 
in the life ; whilst others receive them internally ; that 
is, in the life through the memory. 

What I wish now more particularly to observe, and 
to press upon your observation, is this. Reception of 
the truths of God merely in the memory, and not in 
I 



86 THE HOUSEHOLDER 

the life, is of no avail to the building the spiritual 
tower, of consequence is of no avail to salvation. The 
reason is, because the spiritual ^otiycr implies an eleva- 
tion of the intellectual mind, whereby it is enabled to 
see and discern its interior spiritual evils, and to fight 
against them ; and this elevation cannot have place 
whilst the truths of God are merely in the memory, 
and not in the life. For elevation of the intellectual 
mind, implies conjunction with God, and pre-emi- 
nence thereby, over those things which are not of God; 
and this conjunction and pre-eminence cannot possi- 
bly be effected by religious truths, whilst they remain 
in the memory only, and do not pass thence into the 
life, or practice. 

No external reception then of the truths of God is 
gUiTicient for buiiciing the spiritual tower of divine ob- 
servation and aefence. To raise this incomparable 
and most excellent superstructure, it is needful that 
truth should be received internally. Would you know 
what is meant by the internal reception of truth? It is 
the truth of God operating in the heart, and produ- 
cing thence its salutary influences on the life. It is the 
truth of God, elevated out of the memory into a higher 
or inner sphere of the m^rd, being received with delight 
in the atlection thereof, and thus tending to raise man 
out of the love of evil into the love of good, out of 
earthly vanities into heavenly realities ; out of the 
sinfulness, miseries, and corruption of his own natural 
life, separate from God, into the sanctities, blessed- 
nesses, and purities of that spiritual and eternal life of 
-e<vangelical love ar\d charity, which is the gift of God 




THE TOWER. ' 8? 

ill Jesus Christ, to every one who repenteth and be- 
lievelh the Gospel. 

Behold here the means, and the onlj means, of 
building that spiritual tower, whence alone cometh 
protection and salvation to the spiritual vinejardi 

Would you then, beloved, find' this iowcr built in 
yourselves, and be made partakers of all its infinite 
blessings and benefits? Do you wish for such a place 
of elevation and defence in your own minds, where 
you may contemplate the great eternal things of God's 
kir.gdom, and at the same time discern -all the ap- 
proaches of your spiritual adversaries, and be secured 
against their assaults? Stir up then your minds, and 
pray to God to assist you, in the first place, to a dili- 
gent and a due consideration of the vast importance of 
such a spirltaal tower. Reflect seriously with your- 
selves, that your salvation depends upon this building, 
inasmuch as without it you can neither see the interior 
evils of your natures, nor fight against them so as to 
remove them ; in which case your vineyard will be 
continually exposed to depredation — '• all they that 
go by will pluck off your grapes, the wild boar out oi 
the wood will root it up, 1^e v\ild beasts of the field 
will devour it."^ 

When you are thus convinced of the absolute neces- 
sity of a spiritual tower, for the preservation of your 
vineyard, then beg of God, that is, the Lord Jesus 
Christ, in the next place, to give you a just and right 
apprehension of those interior truths of his Word, or, 

*P5alralxxx. 32, 1 a 



SB THE HOUSEHOLBER 

what is the same thing, of that internal reception of 
truths without which the spiritual iorsver cannot be 
built. For this purpose, accustom yourselres to re- 
flect frequently and seriously on the utter vanity and 
unprofitableness of a mere external reception of truth 
in the memory only, whilst it doth not enter into the 
life, that is, into the life's affection. Be often asking 
yourselves these questions. What can truth profit me, 
if I do not obey the truth ? What can it avail me to 
know the laws and mysteries of heaven, if my life is 
not affected and changed thereby ? How can God save 
me, if I do not love him ; and how can I love him, if 
I do not endeavour, in all humility and sincerity, to 
form the whole internal spirit and temper of my life^ 
as well as my external actions, according to the purity 
and wisdom of his precepts ? 

Such examination of yourselves, attended with sia- 
cere prayer to the great Redeemer, will soon lead you 
to an internal reception of evangelical truth ; and by 
such reception, the spiritual tower of internal observa- 
tion and defence will presently be built. Your vine- 
yard will thus abundantly flourish, and its blessed 
fruits will be preserved from injury. Having your 
minds elevated into the interior light of heaven, you 
will be enabled to discern your interior evils, which 
otherwise you could never know, and by discerning, 
you will shun and escape them. 

Your tower, thus, will both discover to you your 
enemy, and at the same time defend you against hi^ 
"Assaults. But this is not all— the higher your tower is 



i! 



THE TOWER. 89 

built, the nearer you will be to God and heaven ; and 
the further removed, of consequence, from the vanity 
and misery of this v^orld. Into this tower you will be 
enabled to run at all times of alarm and danger, ac- 
cording as it is written, *' The name of the Lord is a 
strong tower, the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." 
Thus, by building your spiritual tower, you will 
find the salvation of God; and with that salvation, all 
the blessings of the eternal love, righteousness, joy, and 
peace, will be brought nigh unto you- AMEN. 



I^. 




ON THE 

LETTING OUT THE VINEYARD, 

OR, THE 

DUTIES OF THE SPIRITUAL HUSBANDMAN, 



SERMON X. 



Matt. xxi. 33. 



Hear another parable : There was a certain houses 
holder which planted a vineyard^ and hedged it 
round about ^ and digged a wine-press in it^ and 
built a tower^ and let it out to husbandmen^ am} 
went into a far country^ 



Having already in the preceding discourses endea- 
voured to point out the divine wisdom and instruction 
contained in the former part of this parable, relating 
to the vineyard which was planted, to the hedge with 
wbitli it was encompassed, to the mne-press which 
was dug in it, and to the tower which was built then^- 
m? we now progced to consider the further lesson of 



^2 THE HOUSEHOLDER 

truth and weighty admonition, intended for us in these 
words : And let it out to husbandmen. 

These words have manifest reference to the charge 
committed to the natural husbandman^ who is intrust- 
ed, we know, with the care of a natural field or vine- 
yard, that by proper culture he may render it fruitful, 
which it could not be without such culture. 

In allusion to such a charge, our blessed Lord 
would remind us of our duties as spiritual husbandmen^ 
to whom is intrusted the care of a spiritual field or 
vineyard, that by proper culture it also may be ren- 
dered fruitful, which is a thing impossible if such cul- 
ture be wanting. 

No words can sufficiently express the importance of 
the obligations laid upon us, as called to act in this 
high and holy chdiXdiCXex oi spiritual husbandmen » Every 
temporal interest^ all of mere human greatness, glory, 
and happiness, disappears, and becoines as nothing^; 
when set in competition with the trust reposed in us 
by the great Householder. If we are unfaithful in 
this trust, we are undone for ever ; our eternal all is 
lost, and it had been better for us not to have heen 
born : but if we are faithful, every blessing is then 
ours; an eternity of glory will await us, and we shall 
give praise for ever to that God who hath called us 
into being. 

Such then beir^ the importance of the obligations 
laid upon us all as spiritual husbandmen, I am persua- 
ded you will give me a patient hearing, whilst I en- 
deavour i^ press upon you the measure of those obli» 
gations. 



LETTING OUT THE VINEYARD. . 93 

A consideration of the duties of the natural husband- 
man will perhaps enable us, in the easiest and most 
familiar manner, to comprehend our duties as spiri- 
tual husbandmen^ and therefore God, in his holy word, 
sends us to the ploughman for instruction, and adds this 
weighty motive to engage our attention thereto, '* For 
his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach 
him.'"^ 

Let us go forth then to the ^eM for information ; let 
us behold there the labours of the husbandman, and 
learn how we also may best cultivate the ground of 
our hearts, so as to bring forth fruit unto God. 

Two things are especially observable respecting the 
conduct of the natural husbandman ; first, what h.e can 
do towards the culture of his land, and secondly, what 
he cannot do. 

And, 1st, oehold what he can do. — You see in his 
hand a plough, with which he is turning up the ground 
to receive the seed intended to be sown therein. You 
next observe him cas^m^ m the seed, and afterwards 
harrowing the earth to cover it in, that so the seed 
may not perish because it had no deepness of earth. Pre- 
sently when the seed springeth up, you behold him 
clearing it of the weeds, which would otherwise grow 
tip andchoak the tender plants. And, lastly, when 
the full corn is ripened in the ear, you see him puttiyig 
in the sickle, binding it up in sheaves, and gathering it 
into his barn, that it may be ready for future use. 
This then is what the husbandman can do towards 

*• Isaiah xxviii. 23 to 29. 



0% THE HOUSEHOLDER 

making his ground fruitful. He can prepare the earth 
to receive secvl. lie ca7i cast in the seed when the 
earth is so prepared. lie can next harrow the earth 
so as to cover in the seed. He can further, when the 
seed puts forth the tender blade, pluck up the weeds 
which might obstruct its growth. And, lastly, he can 
reap his corn, and gather it into his barn. 

Let us now see what this natural husbandman cannot 
do in the way of thi& his husbandry. 

And, 1st, it is plain that by all his skill he cannot 
make a single grain of seed wherewith to sow his 
ground, but must be content to use the seed provided for 
him. In the next place, he cannot prevent storms and 
tempests, which may endanger his harvest: neither can 
he cause a fruitful season, and yet without such a sea- 
son, it is impossible his seed can grow and multiply. He 
can ncitiier compel the sun to shine, nor the wind to blow, 
nor the rain to descend ; and yet both sun, and wind, 
and rain, are alike absolutely necessary to the fructifi- 
cation of hisground. Howbeit, although these things are 
out of his power, he can nevertheless believe that they 
are in the power of God, and he can cheerfu-ly hope and 
trust, that whilst he is diligent in doing what he can do, 
those other things, which he camiot do, will be ordered 
in the best manner for his advantage. 

Having thus then taken a view of the ability and 
inability of the natural husbandman^ let us now turn 
our eyes to the spiritual husbandman^ and note the 
striking marks of similitude between the two charac- 
ters. 



LETTING GUT THE VINEYARD. 95 

The spiritual husbandmmi hath also his ability and 
inability ; or, in other words, there are some things 
which he can do, and which are therefore required of 
him, towards making his ground fruitful in the things 
of God's kingdom ; and there are some things which 
Ije cannot do, and which are therefore 7iot required of 
iiim. Let us first see what he can do. 

Like the natural hnshandrnan, he can prepare his 
ground, that is, his heart and affections, by sincere re- 
pentance and conversion to God, to receive the incor- 
ruptihle seed of the word of God, He can further, if 
he be so disposed, take this seed and cast it into his 
ground; in other words, he can learn the truths of 
God's w^ord, believe them, and be affected by them. 
He can next harrow in this seed, so that it may have a 
proper depth of earth ; or, to speak without a meta- 
phor, he can meditate on the iioly truths which be bath 
learnt, and digest them in his will and understanding, 
that so they may enter deep into the interiors of his 
mind. He can further, when the seed springs up, keep 
it clear from the weeds which would otherwise choak 
the tender phints ; the reason is plain ; he can control 
and subdue his corrupt passions, his earthly^ and sen- 
sual affections, his pride and covetousnt-ss, and self- 
will, which are the great destroyers of the plants of 
heaven in the human bosom. Finally, when the full 
corn is ripened in the ear, he can put in his sickle, and 
hind it up in sheaves, and gather it hito his ham for fu- 
ture use ; for who cannot see, tlirJ \y thcwlful rccoltec- 
Hon and humble acknowledgment of the divine grace? 



96 THE HOUSEHOLDER 

and mercies which have been received and rendered 
fruitful, the pious mind doth as it were gather and store 
them up in tlie inmost recesses of its spirit, where they 
remain as a reserve for future occasion and use ? 

This then is what the spiritual husbandman can d© 
towards promoting the fruitfulness of his spiritual 
ground in the things of heaven. Let us now see what 
he cannot do to secure this blessed end. 

And here we shall find his powers and faculties li- 
mited, like those of the natural husbandman. As, for 
instance ; by all his art and contrivance he cannot 
make a single grain of spiritual seed wherewith lo sow^ 
his ground, but must be content to receive what is pro- 
vided for him ; in other words, he cannot produce from 
his own thought and intelligence a single spiritual 
truth, but must take this seed of eternal life from the 
w^ord of God, its only proper source and origin. In 
the next place he cannot, any more than the natural 
husbandman, prevent storms and tempests, viz. the 
storms and tempests of spiritual trouble, trial, and 
temptation, which may endanger his growing hopes : 
neither can he cause a fruitful spiritual season, and yet 
without such a season, it is as impossible for his spi- 
ritual seed to grow and multiply, as it is for the na- 
tural seed without a fruitful natural season. The sun, 
the wind, the rain of the divine benediction, are as 
needful in one case as in the other, and all that either 
the spiritual or natural husbandman can do in such 
case is, cheerfully and patiently to hope and trust, that 
whilst he is doing his duty and all that he can do, a 



LETTINa OUT THE VINEYARB. 9t 

merciful and gracious God, in his kind providence, 
will order for his blessing the things which are out of 
his power, and which he cannot do. 

Such then is the ability^ and such the inability, of 
the spiritual husbandman^ and such therefore is the abi- 
lity, and such the inability of us all, inasmuch, as in 
our true and proper character before God, and as seen 
of him, we are all of us such husbandmen^ being all 
alike called, and all sent into the world for this great 
end, to cultivate in our hearts and lives the see is of 
heaven ; being all of us alike in possession of iraruense 
and inconceivable faculties for that purpose ; and what 
is no less observable, being all aHke unable to accom- 
plish this blessed purpose, and to give full effect to 
those faculties, without the continual blessing of a most 
gracious and merciful God. 

From this view then of our state and circumstances 
as spiritual husbandmen, it will be easy to discover, if 
we be so disposed, what is the measure of our several 
duties, as called to act in that important character. 

Some of these duties flow from our ability, and some 
from our inability, — Let us first see what those duties 
are which flow from our ability. 

These may be all summed up and comprised in this 
first and fundamental of all duties, viz. to use faithftdly 
and diligently the powers which God continually giveth 
lis, and which he doubtless givelh for this single pur- 
pose, that we should use them, and that in usirxg them 
we might find the blessing, and God the glory. For 
cJxn it be supposed that the righteous God, when he 
K 



98 THE HOUSEHOLDER 

giveth us the faculties to receive his holy word int^ 
our hearts and lives, that it may there grow and bear 
its heavenly fruit, doth not require the use of those fa* 
culties ? Have we the power to read ? Have w^e the 
power to believe ? Have we the power to digest ? Have 
we the power to practise the precepts of the eternal 
truth, and thereby become fruitful in the divine life, 
and be formed in the divine image and likeness ; and 
will not the Father of these powers most reasonably 
look for the application and increase of them ? Let us 
hear what he himself saith on this subject, " Son, go 
work ^o-day in my vineyard r '* and on another occa- 
sion, " Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money 
to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should 
have received mine own with usury."! 

A most poisonous and destructive persuasion is at this 
day prevalent in the Christian church, which would 
lead men to believe that thins^s are sioino; well with 
them in the way of salvation, although they never in 
any way exert the powers which God giveth them to 
promote their salvation. How many, for instance, do 
we see easy and unconcerned about their spiritual state, 
wbo yet are living in the daily neglect of the abilities 
they possess to improve that state 1 With faculties to 
read the word of God, they never read it. With fa- 
culties to comprehend the eternal truth, they never 
comprehend it. With faculties to practise the precepts 
of revealed purity, sanctity, and wisdom, they never 
practise them. With faculties thus to attain to the 

* Matt. xxi. 28. 
f.Matt. xxf. 27. 



LETTING OUT THE VINEYARD. 99 

pure love of God and of their neighbour, and to live 
separate from sin, and to be born again and become the 
sons of God, they are strangers to all these blessings, 
and live at an infinite distance from the privilege^ 
which the Father of mercies intended them hy the gift 
of those faculties. And yet^ notwithstanding all this^ 
total annihilation of the powers of salvation intrusted 
to them, they are blind enough to imagine that they 
are still in the way to bliss, especially if, in the mean 
while, they can repeat a creed, or utter the sound of a 
prayer, or plead, in behalf of their negligence, the 
blood and the merits of the Redeemer. But can any 
imagination be more delusive ? Can any be more 
groundless ? For what is salvation, and what is eternal 
happiness, but an effect- of our reception and cultiva- 
tion of the Word of God in our hearts and lives ? Can 
man be saved and made happy without the Word of 
God ? And can the Word of God save him and make 
him happy, unless it be implanted and become fruitful 
in him ? And can it be implanted and become fruitful 
in him, without some exertion on his part, of the abi= 
lity which God giveth him for that purpose ? Let the 
lot of that slothful servant, who hid his LorcTs pound 
in a napkin^ determine these questions. 

Suffer me, then, to press earnestly upon your atten- 
tion and practice, this first and principal duty oi spiri- 
tual husbandry^ viz. to exert faithfully and diligently 
the spiritual powers which you have received, and re- 
ceive continually from the great Lord of the harvest. 
Think, what will this Lord say, when he comes and 



100 THE HOUSEHOLDER 

iinds that you have been ''standing in the market-place 
all the day idle .; that, instead of entering into, the vine- 
yard, and sowing heavenly seed, and watching its 
growth and fruitfulness in your minds, you have only 
been sowing to thejlesh, amongst the cares, and plea- 
sures, and vanities of a perishing world. Will not he 
expostulate, and expostulate justly, with every such 
careless husbandman, and say, How is it that I hear 
this of thee ? Grce an account of thy husbandry^ and of 
the things committed to thy charge. I gave thee my 
living word for thy salvation ; but how is it that thou 
hast rejected it, or, what is the same thing, hast ne- 
glected to read and to profit by it ? I gave thee also 
the power and faculty whereby thou mightest receive 
and understand my word, mightest cherish it in thy 
heart, and thereby render it fruitful in thy life. How 
then has it come to pass, that thou hast no fruit to shew 
of these my heavenly gifts ; but hast hid the talent^ 
which I committed to thee, -in the earth ? What strange 
infatuation can have blinded thine eyes, that thou 
shouldest not see, that to reject my gifts and the use of 
them, is to reject me and my salvation? "Cast ye, 
therefore, the unprofitable servant into outer darkness.'* 

But, lastly, there are other duties required of the 
spiritual husbandman, which flow from his inability. 

We have already seen in what this inability of the 
spiritual husbandman consists, viz. that when he hath 
done all in his power towards making his vineyard 
fruitful, he must still confess that the seed is not his, 
and that he cannot preserve it from storms and tern- 



LETTING OUT THE VINEYARD. 101 

pests, and make it fruitful, of himself; but that both 
the seed, the preservation, and the fruitfulness, are 
from another, viz. from God, and the continual dew of 
his blessing. 

But what is the language of this inability, and w^hat 
doth it teach us as spiritual husbandmen? Surely this 
lesson of unutterable vs^isdom; to be humble, and put our 
trust in God, and to acknowledge that he is the true 
Husbandman,"^ and that we are only husbandmen under 
and from him. Surely the consideration, therefore, of 
what we cannot do, is alike instructive and edifying as 
the consideration of what we can do. For whilst we 
learn, from what we ca7i do, to estimate and exert 
aright the spiritual powers which we have received, 
we learn, from whiat we cannot do, to adore and rely 
upon the omnipotence of God, and thereby unite our 
powers with that omnipotence. Whilst our ability 
teaches us the duty of exertion, our inability, with 
equal energy, presses the no less profitable duty of 
submission. Whilst the view of our strength lets us see 
and feel a sort of independence in ourselves, the view 
of our weakness makes us see and feel our continual de- 
pendence upon God, In short, whilst, from what we 
can do, we are instructed to use our best endeavours, 
as of ourselves, to make our spiritual vineyards fruit- 
ful ; from what we cannot do, we are further instruct- 
ed, that " we are not sufficient of ourselves to think 
any thing as of ourselves, but that our sufficiency is 

* See John xv, ! . 



102 THE HOUSEHOLDER 

from God ; and that therefore our wisest rule of acting 
is, whilst we act as of ourselves, to act in entire reli- 
ance upon and from Him who hath said, '* Without me 
ye can do nothing." Thus even our infirmities were 
intended to be our instructors ; and our very wantSf 
and dangers, and troubles, with an invincible elo- 
quence, enforce upon us experimentally the divine 
precept, ''Put thou thy trust in the Lord, and be do- 
ing good : commit thy way unto the Lord, and he wiH 
bring it to pass."* 

Let us then study diligently, and practise faithful- 
ly, as wise husbandmen, the double lesson tauglit us by 
the powers w^e possess, and by the powers we want : 
and, combiniag the united instruction resulting from 
this double lesson, let us collect thence, for our daily 
direction, the following summary of all Christian duty, 
which it teaches ; viz. that if we wish to become 
faithful husbandmen in our Lord's vineyard ; if w^e 
wish his holy word to grow and multiply in our bo- 
soms, and bring forth, after its kind, the heavenly fruit 
of righteousness, wisdom, and peace ; if we wish thus 
to recover in ourselves the divine image and likeness, 
and attain unto all that blessedness of true religion, 
which Jesus Christ intended for us, when he prayed 
'' that they all may be one, as thou. Father, art in me, 
and / in thee, that they all may be one in us ;"t we 
must then co-operate with our God towards the accoat- 

* Psalm xxxyii. 3. 5, 
t John xvii. 2L 



LETTING OUT THE VINEYARD. 103 

plishment of these blessed ends. For this purpose. 
we must use freely the powers which he has given us, 
as if they were our own ; but then we must use them 
at the same time as his^ and in dependence upon him : 
we must be active in fulfilling the evangelical duties of 
repentance, of self-examination, of watchfulness, and 
of sincere obedience, as if these duties depended en- 
tirely upon ourselves ; but then we must guard against 
the vain confidence of our own activity, by ascribing 
it unto God. 

Thus we must learn to unite our derived powers with 
their primitive powers, nature with grace, body with 
spirit, and thereby ourselves with Jesus Christ ; not 
according to the mistaken ideas of a false quietism, but 
in the exertion of evangelical virtue ; not according to 
the wildness of a blind enthusiasm, but in the calm so= 
briety of an enlightened wisdom. We must therefore 
be zealous for our God and for eternal hfe ; but we 
must take heed that our zeal be of God, as well diS for 
him : we must watch ahke against the extremes of 
that self-exertion which would preclude humility^ and 
of that humility which would induce supineness. In 
our low estate, we must not forget that '* charity hopeth 
all things ; -but in hoping all things, we must not suffer 
hope to slumber in carelessness ; as, on the other band, 
in our high estate, when hope is realized in possession, 
we must be alike upon our guard against that preswwip- 
tion, which too often overtakes us when we fancy things 
are at the best with us. In short, whilst we acknow- 
tedge that we can do nothing without Jesus Christ, wc 



t04 



THE HOUSEHOLDER, izC. 



must be careful of abusing this acknowledgment to curl 
destruction, by doing nothing with him : and whilstj 
we are diligent to " work out our own salvation with^ 
fear and trembling," as of ourselves, we must believe, 
with the apostle, that " it is God who worketh in u& 
both to will and to do of bis good pleasure."^ AMEN. 



^ Phil. ii. 12, la 



GN THE 

HOUSEHOLDER 

GOING INTO A FAR COUNTRY, 

)R THE TRUE CAUSE OF THE APPARENT DISTANCE AND 
KEARNESS OF GOD. 



SERMON XL 



Matt. xxi. 33. 

Hear another parable : There was a certain 
householder which planted a vineyard^ and 

: hedged it round about^ and digged a wine- 
press in it^ and built a tower ^ and let it out to 
husbandmen^ and went into a far country^ 



Having already endeavoured to explain and en- 
force the lessons of heavenlv instruction, contained in 
the former part of these words, as they relate to a 
certain householder, to the vineyard which he planted^ 
to the hedge with which he encompassed it, to the 
wine-press which he digged in it,- to the tower whigh 



1 OG THE HOUSEHOLDER 

he built in it, and to the hmbandmen to whom he let 
it out ; I shall now proceed to a consideration of the 
last particular, viz. he zvetit into afar country. 

These words, it is plain, are spoken of the household 
der ; and inasmuch as by the householder^ according; 
to what was shewn in a former discourse, is represent- 
'-A and signified the Lord God the Saviour, as head and 
ruler of the church ; therefore in their spiritual sense 
and application they have relation to this divine house- 
holder^ this planter and supporter of the true spiri- 
tual vineyard. 

But it will be asked, How can it be said of God 
with any degree of truth or propriety, that he ra^ent in- 
to afar country ? Is not God always and every where I 
present ? Is it possible . for him to remove afar off 
from any part of his creation ? Is he not alike near 
unto all men, and all things, at all times ? And mus 
not sudden destruction of necessity come both upon 
men and things, if God was to be separated or remo- j 
ved from them ? In what sense then can it be said of the | 
omnipresent God, that he "indent into afar country? 

I shall endeavour to give these questions such an 
answer as their great importance 'demands ; and since 
the answer may tend in some measure to open the 
depths of the divine wisdom contained in the words 
under consideration, may I bespeak your most serious- 
attention to a subject in which the true knowledge of 
God and of yourselves is so intimately involved. — 
And, Is*. We find in many passages of the sacred 
writings, that iiearness and distance are applied to Godji I 



:i 



IN A FAR COUNTRY. 107 

mi(3 to the things of God ; or, in other words, that 
God, and the things of God, are represented some- 
times as nigh at liand^ and at other times as ofar off. 

Thus it is written \\\ the book of the Psalms, *' The 
Lord is nigU unto them that are of a broken heart ;"* 
and in another place, *' The Lord is nigh unto all 
them that call upon him,"t 

Again it is said in the same book, *' Why art thou 
$ofar from helping me V^% and in another place, *' O 
Lord, be not far from me ;"§ and in the prophet Je- 
remiah, '' Am I a God at handy and not a God afar 

It is not however to be supposed, from this mode of 
expression, that distance, according to the common or 
literal sense of the word, is at all applicable to God, or 
to the things of God. 

For let a man travel with his body ever so far, in 
any direction whatsoever, in the regions of space, he 
will not be a jot nearer or further off from God, at the 
end of his journey, in respect to distance of space, 
than he was when he first set out. 

When therefore the sacred scriptures speak of God 
as afar off., it is to be understood that they speak only 
according to appearance, or because it so appears unto 
man, not because God in reality is at any time afar off. 

* Psalm xxxiv 18. 
•}• Psalm cxlv. 18. 
\ Psalm xxii. 1. 
\ Psdlm xxii. 11. 
IJ Jer. xxiii..23. 



108 THE HOUSEHOLDER 

This mode of expressing things according to appear- 
ance^ is common in the sacred writings, and is fre- 
quently applied in other cases in respect to God. 

Thus God is often said to be angry and wrathful 
against the wicked ; not that he is really angry and 
wrathful, (for it is impossible that such affections can 
have any place in a holy God,) but because to the 
wicked he appears angry and wrathful, in consequence 
of the opposition and contrariety which must ever of 
necessity subsist between a sinful creature, and the 
pure and holy Creator. 

Would you know then the true ground and reason 
why God is spoken of in the sacred scriptures in re- 
spect to distance and nearness, as of space and place, 
and is represented sometimes as being afar off, and at 
other times as being near ? It is owing entirely to the 
appearaiice thereof in respect to man, according to 
which appearance God is ever seen by the good as a 
near and present God, and by the wicked as a distant 
and absent God. 

The real truth is, that, in regard to distance of place 
or space, God, his kingdom, and the things thereof, 
are alike near unto, and present with all men, at all 
times, in all places, and in every state of their lives. 
The most wicked and careless sinner, in this sense, 
has God and heaven as near unto him, and sls present 
with him, as the most righteous and watchful saint. No 
human heart ever was, is, or can be, separated from 
God by any thing like distance of space. The omni- 
present Creator is, and ever must be, most near unto 



1*- 



IN A FAR COUNTRY. 109 

all, because he is in all, and the life of all, and there- 
fore it is as impossible for any human spirit to be re- 
moved from him, as to space or place, as it is impossi- 
ble it should be removed from its own life. 

It was according to this idea, that our blessed Lord^ 
when he appointed the seventy disciples to preach 
the Gospel, strictly charged them to declare even to 
those who should reject their divine mission, " Not- 
Withstanding, be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of 
God is come nigh unto youy^ 

But though God, his kingdom^ and the things there- 
of, are alike near unto the righteous and unto the wick- 
ed, unto him that feareth God, and unto him that fear- 
eth him not, yet herein a mighty difference is to be 
observed. 

The righteous, (by whom are to be understood the 
regenerate) see and feel in themselves this nearness of 
God and of the things of his, kingdom. They are 
made sensible in their own hearts, and in their own 
understandings, of the divine presence with them, and 
know by happy experience that the kingdom of God 
is nigh unto them.. They no longer, therefore, look at 
heaven, and at the Lord of heaven, as at distant ob- 
jects, as at things absent and afar off ; but they look 
at them as at objects which are of all others most near 
to and present with them, because intimately connect^ 
ed and conjoined with the very essence of their life. 

But the contrary is true of the wicked, that is, oi 

♦ Luke X. 1 1 . 

L 



110 THE HOUSEHOLDER 

the unregenerate. Notwithstanding the real nearness 
of God and of the things of his kingdom to them, yet 
they still view them as at an immense distance^ and 
they cannot help so viewing them whilst they conti- 
nue wicked or unregenerate. Though they are told 
ever so often that the kingdom of God is nigh unto them^ 
yet they will not believe it. Though they hear of an 
eternity, of an eternal worlds and of eternal beings 
therein, yet they fancy all these things most remote and'' 
absent^ and treat them accordingly. The real presence 
of God therefore is unseen and unknown to them, not 
because he is not as near to them as he is to the right- 
eous, but because their minds are not in the same state 
to see and perceive his nearness. 

For if you inquire the reason why the same omni- 
present God, and the same eternal kingdom of his hea- 
ven, are thus seen differently oy different persons, ap- 
pearing to some 7nost near^ and to some most distant j 
you carmot possibly find any other reason than this, 
that the hearts and affections of some are turned from 
themseWes and the world towards God, whereas the 
hearts and affections of others are turned from God to- 
wards themselves and the world ; and all spiritual 
nearness or distance depends entirely on the state of 
the heart and affections. 

That this is the case — that a change in the state of 
the heart and affections causes different apprehensions 
of God and the things of eternity, you may be con- 
vinced by every day's experience. 

Take, for instance, a carnal and thoughtless man, 



IN A FAR COUNTRY. . Ill 

who is in the full enjoyment of bodily health and ani* 
inal spirits, and whose affections all centre in the riches 
and pleasures of this world and the flesh ; and talk to 
such a man of the nearness of God and eternity, and 
he will most probably make a mock of allVour infor- 
mation, at least he will not feel it to be true. 

But suppose this same man to be laid in a bed of 
sickness, or to be pressed down by any heavy afHlc- 
tion ; — suppose the vigour of his carnal and v\^orldIy- 
enjoyments to be for a while suspended ; and that in 
this state you speak to him of God and heaven ; — he- 
will now most probably feel the force of all that you 
tell him, — he will perceive and confess the real near- 
ness of those things noxv which he had heretofore view- 
ed as afar off^ — -he will be surprised that he had not 
seen them so before, and will be exceedingly amazed 
to think that the perishable objects of this w^orld and 
the flesh should be possessed of such a delusive and 
enchanting power, to hide from the eyes of a reason= 
able being the awful and near realities of an eternal 
world. 

And Vv'hat shall we say is the reason why this sick 
and afflicted man sees God and his kingdom nearer in 
his affliction, and on his bed of sickness, than he saw 
them in his prosperity, and in the pride and vigour of 
his health ? We must be forced to confess it caq be 
owing to no other cause than this, that the state of his 
heart and affections was changed by his sickness and 
-affliction, and that this change alone made the differ- 
ence of his views ; God and heaven were certainly as 



11^ 



THE HOUSEHOLDER 



7iear to hira in the former days of his health and pros'- 
perity, as in the latter days of his malady and trouble ; 
but he did not at that time see and perceive their 
nearness : — the reason was, because his heart and af- 
fections were then turned from God and heaven, to 
delight more in other objects ; and the spirit of man 
can only see that object in which it delights. 

Behold here then, beloved, the true and eternal cause 
of that distance, which in the sacred Scriptures is so 
frequently ascribed to God ! Behold also the lesson of 
deep and weighty instruction, contained in the words 
of my text, in regard to the great householder, where 
it is said, that " he went into a far country I" 

To go into a far country, when spoken of God, it 
has been already shewn, must relate to the state of 
man's affections, in which God appears to him as afar 
off. This is the case with every man in his natural or 
unregenerate state, which is the state of the hushand- 
menhere described under ihe first planting of the spi- 
ritual vineyard. In this state, the affections are mere- 
ly natural, worldly, and carnal ; the things of God and 
of his kingdom are apprehended very darkly and im- 
perfectly ; the riches, honours, and glories of this world 
affect much, and therefore appear to be very near and 
present; whereas the riches, honours, and glories of 
the eternal world affect hut little, and therefore appear 
to be distant and afar off. 

But doth the great householder always thus dwell in 
a/ar country? Do the spiritual husbandmen always 
thus behold him as afar off, and perceive him as a dis- 



IN A FAR COUNTRY. 113 

tant and absent God, and bis kingdom as a distant and 
absent kingdom ? Doubtless not. It is the voice of 
religion ; it is the voice of God himself — f"' The Lord 
is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and sa- 
veth such as be of a contrite spirit.."* And again, *' If 
a man love me, he will keep mj words ; and mj Fa- 
ther will love him, and we will coyne unto him, and 
make our abode with him."t And again, " Draw nigh 
unto God, and he will draw nigh unto you,''^\ 

Whilst man, indeed, hath his heart unbroke^iy living, 
only to himself and to the world^ unconverted to God, 
and unregenerate, he must of necessity see heaven and 
the great householder as at a distance. But let this 
state now be reversed ; let his heart be broken by af- 
fliction and godly sorrow ; let us suppose him a sincere 
penitent at the throne of mercy, awakened to a sense 
and perception of his eternal concerns, supplicating 
pardon for sin, and grace to live a new life ; let us sup- 
pose a removal hereby of his evil affections, and that 
the good affections of heavenly love and wisdom are 
implanted, by an earnest seeking of these eternal rich- 
es ; let us suppose that the powers of worldly and sel- 
fish love are hereby weakened, and that he begins to 
be made sensible of the superior power and life of an 
omnipotent Redeemer ] let us suppose that he thus be- 
gins to walk steadfastly and watchfully in the ways of 
regeneration; looking for the appearing of God and 

* Psalm xxxiv. 18. 
t John xiv. 23. 
% James iv. 8, 



114 THE HOUSEHOLDER 

his kingdom in his own mind, according to the Scrip- 
tures ; — how will he now see that near^ which he had 
before seen only afar off I How will God, heaven, and 
eternity, appear present and at hand, which had before 
seemed absent and at an immense distance from his 
view ! 

Would you then, beloved, attain unto this extraordi-. 
nary blessedness and most high privilege, for which 
you were created, and which is your peculiar birth- 
right as reasonable creatures, even- the privilege of see- 
ing the face of your God, and of beholding him ever 
nigh unto, and present with you, with all the riches of 
his kingdom ? Labour then to come into a spirit of 
true repentance, and, by repentance, into regeneration 
of heart and of life. Remember, that evil alone, that 
is, an evil and unrighteous love, separates God from 
you, according as it is written, '*Your iniquities have 
separated between you and your God, and your sins 
have hid his face from you.'^* Remember further, 
that the face of God can never be seen but in and by 
the good of his own. love, and the truth of his own 
wisdom ; just as you can never see the face of the sun 
but in and by the light of the sun. Cherish, then, in 
your bosoms, this heavenly good and truth ; — let them 
prevail and have dominion oyer all the false and ap- 
parent goods of the world and the flesh, with their de-* 
lusive persuasions. Look continually in humility, 
faijh, and obedience, unto the manifested God^ the 

* Isaiah lix. J*' 



JN A FAR COUNTRY. 115 

Lord Jesus Christ, from whom alone all this saving 
good and truth come. You will then soon behold him 
present with and nigh unto you. Every step you thus 
take in the regeneration, will bring you nearer to God 
and heaven : every separation from evil will make the 
face of the Almighty shine brighter upon you ; you 
will thus no longer see him as at a distance^ and under 
the dark veil and covering of an earthly nature ; but 
you will see him as a God at hand, in the clear bright- 
ness of his majesty ; and in you will be fulfilled the 
blessed prophecy, " He will destroy in this mountain 
the face of the covering cast over all people, and the 
veil that is spread over all nations ; and it shall be 
said, Lo, this is our God ; we have waited for him, and 
he will save us. This is the Lord ; we have waited 
for him ; we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. ''* 
AMEN. 

* Isaiah xxv, 7. ^. 



I 

! 



ON THE 



SPIRITUAL FRUIT, 



WHICH 



THE VINEYARD PRODUCES, 



SERMON XIL 



Matt. xxi. 34. 



Andzohen the time of the fruit drew near^ he sent 
his servants to the husbandmen^ that they might 
receive the fruits of it. 



We have already considered the lessons of divine in- 
struction, contained and conveyed to us, in the former 
part of this parable, where it is written, *' There was 
a certain householder which planted a vineyard, and 
hedged it round about, and digged a wine-press in it^ 
and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and 
went into a far country. 



118 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

May I now bespeak your serious attention to the 
further lessons of instruction and edification contained 
and conveyed to us in the subsequent words of the pa- 
rable, " And when the time of the fruit drew near, he 
sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might 
receive the fruits of it." 

There are three several particulars in these words> 
vvhich demand particular consideration. 

1. The fruits of the vineyard. 

2. The time of the fruits drawing near, 

3. The servants of the householder, who were sent, 
that they might receive the fruits of it, 

I shall endeavour to explain and enforce each of 
these particulars in such a manner, as may best con- 
duce to open to our understandings the treasures of 
that eternal and inexhaustible wisdom, w^th which 
thisj and all other parts of the sacred scriptures are so 
abundantly stored for our use. 

And, 1 'it ^ respecimg the fruits of the vineyard. 

There is much mention made of these fruits in the 
sacred writings, and it is again ar\^d again declared, 
that every man's eternal state will depend altogether 
upon the fruits^ which his vineyard yieldeth. 

If there be no fruits, there can be no blessedness in 
eternity; if the fruits he few or small, the blessedness 
in eternity will be proportionably diminished ; if the 
fruits be abundant and excellent, so will the blessed- 
ness be in that life which shall never have an end. 

Thus it is written in the prophet, «* They shall eat 



FRUITS OF THE VINEYARD. 119 

"^he fruit of their doings,"* by which is signified, that 
everj man appropriates to. himself a Hfe agreeable 
to his fruits. And again, *' Ye shall know them by 
their fruits ;"t plainly declaring, that every man is what 
his fruits are, and that the man and his fruits are the 
same thing. And again, '^ Bring forth, therefore, fruits 
meet for repentance,"| (or, as it may more properly 
be rendered, worthy fruits of repentance ;) whereby is 
manifestly intimated, that the sincerity, and conse- 
quently the efficacy of repentance will depend on its 
fruits. 

For the same reason the fig-tree in the gospel was 
cursed, because it bare no fruit, having nothing but 
leaves, to denote the sinful and miserable state of those 
human minds, which are barren of true spiritual /?'mV, 
and have nothing to shew but mere external appear- 
ances and semblances thereof. 

Such, then, being the case in regard to fruits, it is 
an awful question, which every sincere Christian will 
seriously ponder, and to which he will require a satis- 
factory answer in his own mind. What is the fruit of 
the true spiritual vineyard? and doth my vineyard 
bear such fruit ? 

He will be exceedingly afraid of making any, even 
the smallest mistake in this important inquiry. He 
will recollect that his salvation depends upon it ; that 
his eternal well-beins: is connected with it. He will 



* Isaiah iii, 10. 
f Matt. vii. 16. 
\ Matt, iil 



120 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

therefore never rest till he hath acquired full and com- 
plete satisfaction, in his own mind, on a subject which 
of all others doth most nearly concern him. 

But what will be the result of this inquiry ? What 
will he discover to be the nature and kind of that ge- 
nuine fruit of the vineyard, which is salvation and 
eternal life? Surely he will recollect the words of 
Jesus Christ on the interesting subject, '* He that 
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth 
much fruit;"* and in these words he will find deliver- 
ance from error and delusion, and at the same time the 
fullest satisfaction of mind arising from the brightness 
of the light of eternal truth. 

By these divine words he will be taught, that the 
genuine fruit of the vineyard, or, of the true church, 
is an effect of its abiding in Jesus Christ, and of hav- 
ing Jesus Christ abide in it. He will see, there- 
fore, with the greatest clearness of conviction, that 
no man can bear fruit of himself; consequently 
that all fruit is produced by and from the great re- 
deeming God, whilst man looks unto and abides Id 
HIM as the true vine, of which he himself is but a 
branch. 

But what is \ht fruit which the true vine yieldeth ? 
What is the genuine effect of man's abiding in Jesus 
Christ, and of having Jesus Christ abide in him? 

Let us hear the inspired apostle on this subject, 
where he saith, *• The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, 



* JohD XV. 5 



FRUITS OP THE VINEYARD. 121 

peace, long-sufFeiing, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
meekness, temperance."* 

Behold here, beloved, the fruits of the true vine- 
yard, what thej are, and whence they are. Contem- 
plate them in their origin^ and contemplate them in 
their end^ that so ye may become of the happy num- 
ber of those wj^o bring forth these fruits to perfection. 

In their origin these fruits are Jesus Christ himself, 
because in their origin they partake of his spirit and 
of hi life. From this origin they descend into the 
members of the true church, as the juices of the vine 
into the branches, and there they manifest themselves 
under various forms and effects^ according to the de- 
gree of life into which they enter. 

Their first descent is into the human will^ and here 
they produce, as the apostle expresseth it, iove^ joy, 
peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness. Before 
these heavenly fruits appear, the human will is filled 
merely with the love of itself and of this world, to- 
gether with all the violence, restlessness, hatred, and 
animosity, which ever attend those evil loves. But on 
the manifestation and growth of the heavenly fruits, an 
entire change taketh place, and man is made sensible 
of a pure love towards God and his neighbour, together 
with the peaceable and blessed effects of that love. 

Their next descent is into the human wider standings 
and here they produce what the apostle c^W^Xh faith, 
by which we are to understand all heavenly know- 
ledge, intelligence, and wisdom, derived from and 

• Gal. V. 22, 23. 

M 



122 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

connected with the love of God, and of our neighbour- 
The human understanding, till these heavenly fruits 
appear, is full of error and delusion, arising from the 
false principles which take their birth from, and are 
ever connected with an evil love ; but on the descent 
of the heavenly fruits, the eternal truth manifests the 
splendour and bea«ty of her divine countenance, and 
at her arising, like that of the morning sun, all the 
mists and clouds of error and delusion are suddenly, 
dissipated. 

But the fruits of the true vine are not confined only to 
man's will and understanding. They make yet a fur- 
ther descent, and appear under another form, whilst 
they enter into, and manifest themselves in man's out- 
ward life, that is, in his words and works. 

In this descent, or in this degree of man's life, the 
frjuits of the true vine discover themselves in all since- 
rity of speech, and all uprightness and usefulness of 
conduct and conversation. The member of Jesus 
Christ must needs speak and act from Jesus Christ, be- 
cause he must needs speak and act from the divine love 
and wisdom manifesting their heavenly fruits in his 
will and in his understanding. He finds it impossible 
therefore either to be vain or to be insincere in his 
words and actions. He leaves to the children of this 
world to be cunning and artful, to be deceitful and 
temporizing, to be hypocritical and unjust in their lan- 
guage and in their dealings ; whilst he himself, recol- 
lecting in whom he abides, and wfco abides in him, 
must needs in all his words and in all his works be ac- 



FRUITS OF THE VINEYARD. 1^3 

tualed by the eternal spirit of that justice and judg- 
ment which are from God, and which are God, and 
thus bring forth those fruits of use and benefit to his 
fellow-creatures, in the faithful discharge of all the du- 
ties of his station, whatsoever it be, of which fruits the 
Son of God saith, " Herein is my Father glorified, 
that ye bear much fruit ; so shall ye be my disci- 
ples.''* 

Behold here then, beloved, the genuine nature and 
kind of the fruits of the true vineyard ! They descend 
from Jesus Christ, and they arc Jesus Christ, because 
they are so much of his Vue and spirit manifested and 
brought forth in all such pure and obedient minds as 
abide in kim^and have him abiding in them. 

Would you know then whether you are bringing 
forth these fruits of the true vineyard ? Would you 
know whether you are living branches thus of the true 
vine, or, on the contrary, are the '* branches cast 
forth and withered, which men gather, and cast into 
the fircj and they are burned ?"t Examine yourselve:; 
well then by this simple but most sure and certain rule, 
Do you abide in Jesus Christ, and doth he abide in 
you? Do you labour that the spirit and life of this 
great God and Redeemer maybe made manifest in 
you ? Are you convinced that merely of yourselves 
you cannot bring forth any saving fruits, and that all 
which you call your own virtue, your own merit, your 
&wn wisdom, and your own good works, are only so far 

* John XV. 8. 
f John XV. 6. 



124 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

good, as the J partake of the virtue, the merit, the xscis<r 
dom, and work of the incarnate God? Is it thus be- 
come your rehgion ? Is it become the one ruling end 
and desire of your lives, to become humble and obedi- 
ent before Jesus Christ, that so, working together with 
him in every principle of spirit, mind, and body, you 
may bring forth fruits to his glory, and to your own 
eternal peace ? 

Such examination will tend to deliver you from 
abundance of error and of folly, and at the same time 
to establish your minds in all the power and comfort 
of the eternal truth. Convinced of the great danger 
of being barren and unprofitable branches of the true 
vine, you w^ill see the necessity of looking earnestly 
unto the Redeemer, and of labouring together with 
him, to become fruitful in every good thought, word, 
and work. Convinced of the equal danger of not dis- 
tinguishing between apparent and genuine fruits, be- 
tween those which are merely from yourselves, and 
those which are the effect of your abiding in Jesus 
Christ, you will no longer deceive yourselves with ap- 
pearances of virtue, those specious semblances of good, 
which, like painted fruits, hd-ve nothing of fruit be- 
longing to them but the outward show, being desti- 
tute of the internal juices and flavour thereof. You 
will see, that nothing can stand you in any stead, but 
the fruit of God, that is, his love and wisdom ruling in 
and becoming your love and wisdom ; and that every 
thing in you, and every thing which proceeds from 



PRUITS OF THE VINEYARD. 125 

you, if it is not from God, and wrought in God, must 
needs perish, and end in your confusion. 

You will not, however, on this account, become like 
stocks and 'statues, doing nothing of yourselves, and 
expecting that God, without your exertion, should pro- 
duce fruit in you and by you. No ; you will per-i 
ceive this to be the extremity of delusion ; you will 
therefore exert yourselves ; you will love w^hat is 
good, you will think what is good, you will do^what 
is good, freely, as of yourselves ; but then you will 
believe that the power to do so is continually from 
God, and is God's ; and therefore, w^hilst you act of 
yourselves, you will act with and from God. Thus all 
your exertions, all your labours, all your works, will 
tend to bring you nearer to God, and to join you clo- 
ser with him. All your fruits you will acknowledge 
to be his fruits^ and not your own : and by this ac- 
knowledgment, all your fruits will become blessing, 
and life, and peace, and salvation to you, because they 
will fill you more and more with the fulness of Him^ 
who is the all of blessing, the all of life, the all of 
peace, and the all of salvation to his church, and to 
every member thereof, AMEN. 



M! 



ON THE 

TIME OF THE FRUIT, 

OR 

SPIRITUAL SEASONS, 



SERMON XIIL 



Matt. xxi. 34. 



And when the time of the fruit drew near^ he sent 
his servants to the husbandmen^ that they might 
receive the fruits of it. 



Having already, in the preceding discourse, endea- 
voured to shew what we are here to understand by the 
fruit of the spiritual vineyard, I shall now proceed to 
a consideration of the next particular herein presented 
to our attention, viz. the time of the fruit drawing 
near. 

Every one knows, that the natural vineyard hath its 
distinct times or seasons, through which it is ncc^^5 ^^ry 
to pass, before lis fruit can be formed aud fully ripeii 
ed for the husbandman's use* 



128 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

Thus there is the time or season of planting ; there 
is also the time or season for blossoming ; there is next 
the time or season for the first forming of fruit ; 
and lastly, there is the time or season in which the 
fruit is fully ripened, and gathered for use. 

These times or seasons, in regard to the natural 
vineyard, are distinguished by the several names of 
the portions of the year, called spring, summer, and 
autumn. 

Every one further knows, or may know, that these 
times or seasons are perfectly distinct the one from the 
other, both in their progress and in their eff^ect. Thus 
the time or season for the vineyard's blossoming, is 
perfectly distinct from that in which iht fruit is form- 
ed ; as this again is distinct from the season in which 
the ixmt fully ripens : and thus also the blossoming, the 
formation of the fruit, and its ripening, are perfectly 
distinct effects and operations, the one from the other. 

Every one, lastly, knows, or may know, concerning 
the natural vineyard, that the latter time or season can 
never be arrived at, without passing through ih^ for- 
mer. Thus it is impossible that any fruit should be 
formed, until the vine hath first yielded its blossoins ; as 
again it is impossible that the fruit should be ripened 
and gathered, until it be first/orwiec?. 

But though all this be known in regard to the natural 
vineyard, yet it is to be feared, it is in general little 
known, that the same is true also in regard to the spi- 
ritual vineyard ; and that this vineyard likewise hatfe 
its several particular tim.es or seasons, through which it 



THE TIME OF THE FRUIT. 12S 

must necessarily pass, before it can produce fruit fit 
for the husbandman's use. 

Thus, as the natural vineyard hath its winter^ its 
springs its summer^ and its autumn^ so hath also the 
spiriUial vineyard; and as the natural vineyard is first 
planted^ then blossoms, next forms its fruits^ and lastly 
fully ripens them, the same distinct processes have place 
likewise in the spiritual vineyard. 

Possibly, beloved, you have never heretofore con- 
sidered this subject with that attention which it de- 
serves. Possibly you are surprised to hear of these 
spiritual times or seasons, and wonder that such things 
should be, or, if they are, that you have not noted 
them. 

Permit me, then, at this time, to call your observa- 
tion more particularly to this subject, as to a matter of 
the utmost concern to your spiritual and eternal inter- 
ests. For it is not, believe me, a point of mere specu- 
lation and curious inquiry ; it is not one of those indif- 
ferent or uninteresting questions, which are calculated 
rather to amuse than to edify : but it is a subject con- 
nected closely with your eternal well-being ; it is in- 
corporated with your spiritual life ; and therefore you 
cannot be in ignorance about it ; but you must be in 
ignorance about yourselves, and about what is perpetu- 
ally passing in yourselves, and thus be proportionably 
lacking in that knowledge which is able to make you 
wise unto salvation. 

You will find no sort of difficulty in apprehending 
what is meant by spiritual seasons^ provided you are in 



130 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

a disposition to allow and believe what the sacred scrip- 
tares so abundantly teach you, viz. that the Lord 
Jesus Christ, as tlie sun of righteousness in the spiritual 
or eternal world, shineth upon all human minds, and 
imparteth to them his blessed heat and light, which 
are his divine love and wisdom, just as the natural sun 
of this world shineth upon all parts of the habitable 
globe, and iraparteth to them its natural heat and 
light. 

It is a great natural truth, well known to philoso- 
phers, that the varieties in the natural seasons are ow- 
ing solely to this one circumstance, viz. that the earth 
changeth its aspect in regard to the sun, so as not al- 
ways to receive the sun's rays in the same degree of 
fulness and of power. 

Thus, when the earth is in such an aspect as to re- 
ceive the sun's light alone, without its heat, it is then 
the season which we call i3i)inter ; in which season, we 
know% nothing grows or vegetates, but all temporal 
naf^re is in an apparent state of torpidness and of 
death. 

Again, when the earth is in such an aspect in regard 
to the sun, as to receive a portion of its heat, together 
with the light, it is then the season which we call 
spring ; and in this season, w^e know, the plants of the 
earth begin to spring forth and blossom, and all na- 
ture assumes a new face of cheerfulness and of joy. 

So again, when the earth still further changeth its 
aspect, so as to receive a further increase of the sun's 
heat, it is then the season which we call summer ; and 
in this season, \sq know, the plants of the earth begin 



THE TIME OF THE FRUIT. 131 

fx> bear iheir fruits, and what was before blossom, now 
change th its appearance and form, and is presented to 
the eye of the beholder under an altogether new^ state 
of being. 

Lastly, when the aspect of the earth is again chang- 
ed in regard to the sun, so as to admit of a more equal 
temperature of heat, it is then the season which we 
call autumn ; and in. this season, we know, the fruits 
of the earth are brought to their full perfection of ex- 
cellence for the use of man. 

Thus it is, beloved, that the God of nature instruct- 
eth us by the natural seasons of this world, concerning 
the laws of those spiritual and eternal seasons, which 
have their origin in himself, and which constitute the 
various states and processes of the regenerate life in 
the faithful here on earth. 

For suppose now, that instead of the natural sun of 
this world, we think of the spiritual sun of righteous- 
ness in the eternal world ; and instead of the heat and 
light proceeding from the natural sun, we think of the 
heat and light, which is the divine love and wisdom, 
proceeding from the spiritual sun ; and instead of the 
earth and its various proiuctions, that we think of hu- 
man minds with the infinite varieties of affections and 
thoughts therein contained — who cannot see, in this 
case, that similar changes must needs exist and have 
place, according lo the different aspects of each mind 
in regard to the spiritual svin, and that these changes 
may with the utmost propriety be called spiritual sea- 
sons ? 

As for example, and to apply llie case to ourselves-^- 



132 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

Are any of our minus in that aspect in regard to the 
sun of righteousness in the eternal world, as to receive 
the beaais of his light only, without his heat, or in 
other words, to be en/ightened with the knowledge of 
hini in our understandings, without being enlivened with 
the love of him in our wills — who cannot see, that this 
is a spiritual state or season, which may with the great- 
est propriety be called spiritual 'wmtery inasmuch as 
all things in our minds, during this unhappy state, 
must needs be torpid and dead, having nothing of the 
life of heaven in them ? 

Again — Have any of our minds been convinced of 
the danger of resting in this barren and unprofitable 
state of a mere knowledge of holy things, without a cor- 
responding life and love ? And have we in conse- 
quence of this conviction laboured, by sincere repen- 
tance before God, to join charity to our faith, and obe- 
dience to our persuasions ? Doth the truth of God be- 
gin thus to be united with the pure affection thereof, 
and to be received by us with its holy and heavenly 
delights ? Who cannot see, that this state or season of 
our minds may most properly be called spiritual 
spring, that blessed season in which all things begin 
to blossom forth their various beauties, and to shew the 
signs of a vigorous and internal life operating within 
them ? 

Again — Is our love for the things of God and his 
kingdom become still stix)nger and more elevated ? Do 
we feel, by virtue of a deeper repentance, and a more 
internal purification of heart, that the rays of the hea- 
venly and eternal sun shine upon us with a fuller radi- 



THE TIJIE OF THE FRUIT, ^ 133 

ance, and a more quickening warmth ? In other words, 
are our wills inflamed with the heat of the divine 
goodness, which is love to the Lord and to each other, 
as our understandings are enlightened with the light of 
the divine truth ? and through their conjoined influences 
do we begin to bring forth the fruit of good works in 
our several stations and callings? By what fitter name 
shall we call this blessed and fruitful season of mind, 
than by that of spiritual summer^ in which the blossom 
of mere intellectual knowledge begins to "disappear, 
and to give place to the more solid and profitable fruit 
of heavenly righteousness, love, and peace, manifest- 
ing itself in all the good works of an holy and useful 
life ? 

Lastly — Have we continued for some time under the 
kindly rays of \h\s summer sun ? Are we arrived, through 
further gradual advancement in the heavenly life of re- 
generation, at that equal temperament of spiritual in- 
fluences, in which all the faculties of the mind are re- 
stored to and preserved in their due and proportionate 
vigour and exercise ? In other v/ords, are our wills, 
our understandings, and our works, all conjointly 
brought under the regulations of an heavenly love and 
life, so as to partake of, and to bring forth respec- 
tively theft" united fruits in a full and perfect ripeness ? 
Who cannot see, (hat this last and crowning season is 
that spiritual autumn of the godly and regenerate mind, 
in which the effects of the preceding seasons are all 
terminated and fulfilled in their lasting usefulness, and 
fruit is thus brought forth to perfection ? 
N 



134 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

Behold here then, beloved, a view of those spiritual 
seasons, answering to the natural ones, which the 
words of my text have led me to present to your seri- 
ous attention and consideration. 

Permit me now, by way of conclusion^ to ask you a 
few questions naturally flowing from the subject under 
consideration. — In which of these spiritual seasons, 
think you, are your own minds revolving ? What .is 
your particular aspect in regard to the sun of heaven ? 
Is it still the gloom and cold of winter with you ; or 
do you begin to be made sensible of the joys and 
warmth of spring, of summer, of autumn ? In other 
w^ords, are you resting still in a mere speculative faith, 
which hath no influence upon your affections, your 
thoughts, and works, to turn them unto God ; or are 
you begun to labour in sincere repentance to join to 
your faith heavenly virtue, and by that conjunction to 
experience a progressive advancement, through the 
several seasons of the spiritual life, till you arrive at 
the perfect fruitfulness ? One or other of the above 
seasons must of necessity be to each of you your pecu- 
liar or ruling season, and it certainly is of importance 
for you to know which it is. 

May then these questions lead you to a serious ex- 
amination of the state of your own hearts in regard to 
the holy God and his eternal kingdom I May they 
lead you to look up to, and to be affected by that spi- 
ritual and eternal sun, whose blessed rays are for ever 
shining upon you, whether you think of it or not! May 
they lead you to see the danger of resting in any spi- 



THE TIME OF THE FRUIT, ioo 

litual season, short of that concluding and crowning 
season, in which your fruit may be fully ripened for 
the great Householder'' s use ! May they lead you, if 
it be yet winter with you, to look for the joy of the 
heavenly spring ; if it be spring with you, to advance 
onwards towards the fuller joys and delights of the 
heavenly summer ; if it be summer, not yti to stand 
still, but to press forwards to the full and complete 
fruitfulness of the heavenly autumn / May you thus, 
advancing in the knowledge and love of things eternal, 
be led tx) rise above and out of the perishable times 
and seasons of this world, that so you may be found re- 
volving in those eternal seasons, which have their ori- 
gin in the everlasting Jehovah, and which, like him, 
vvill endure for ever ! Finally, and to speak without a 
metaphor, you may be led hereby in true repentance 
to the great jedeeming God, whose name is Jesus 
Christ, and who has his kingdom in the centre of all 
human minds, to receive from him, not only the know- 
ledge, but also the love of himself, and so to cherish in 
your bosoms the blessed rays of this his eternal mercy 
and truth, that when the time of fruit comeih^ and the 
great Householder sendeth his servants to receive of the 
fruit of your vineyards^ it may be found in great abun- 
dance, to his glory, and to your own eternal bliss ! 

AMEN. 



I 



ON THE 

SERVANTS SENT 

TO RECEIVE THE 

FRUITS OF THE VINEYARD ; 

OR THE 
REQUIREMENTS OF HEAVENLY TRUTHS. 



SERMON XIV. 



Matt. xxi. 34. 



^4nd when the time of the fruit drew near, he i'eni 
his servants to the husbandmen^ that they might 
receive the fruits of it* 



In the two preceding discourses it has been considered 
what we are here to understand by the fruits of the 
vineyard, and by the time of the fruit drawing near. I 
shall now proceed to consider the further lessons of 
heavenly admonition and instruction suggested by 
these latter words, *' He sent his servants to the hus- 
bandmeio, that they might receive the fruits of iU 
N 2 



138 THE HOUSEHOLDER, 

The plain and obvious sense of these words, as ap- 
plied to God, or the Lord Jesus Christ, the great 
Householder, is this, that he sent to claim tFie fruits of 
the vineyard to himself, as properly belonging to him- 
self more than to the husbandmen ; inasmuch as the 
vineyard being /m, the fruits of the vineyard must of 
necessity be his also. 

By the servants whom he sent, we may understand 
(in reference to God, the great Householder) all those 
heavenly teachers and instructors, enlightened by his 
holy Spirit of truth, whom he hath sent in all ages of 
Ihe world, to enlighten and to reform mankind. Of 
consequence, by the servants here spoken of, are fur- 
ther meant the heavenly truths themselves, which were 
taught by those instructors; inasmuch, as all divine 
and heavenly truth is, iiv a peculiar seSse, the ser- 
vant of the eternal Jehovah, being sent forth from him 
to execute and fulfil his adorable counsels of mercy 
and love in regard to man. 

Let me entreat, beloved, your particular attention 
-0 this design and purpose of the Almighty in sending 
his servants y according to this sense of the word, to 
claim to himself the fruits of the spirityal vineyard, 
which is his church, that so you may see how his 
counsel herein is grounded in his most unutterable 
mercy and love towards mankind. 

It is well known, that all men, whether they be gooi 
or evil, whether they be righteous or wicked, bring 
forth some kind oi fruit in their spiritual vineyards. 

For every man's fruits are his marks, and all men 
clo some kind of work or other, accordieg to thejp 



SERVANTS SENT FOR FRUITS, 139 

particular calling, genius, or temper, be it good or 
evil. 

It is further known, that an evil or wicke^d man can 
bring forth a fruity or do a work,, which to all out- 
Tsoard appearance shall be like the fruit or work of a 
righteous or good man ; as for example ; a wicked man 
can give alms to the poor, he can be diligent in the 
labours of his calHng, he can perform outward acts of 
devotion towards God, and the like. 

But notwithstanding all this be known, yet it is not 
perhaps so well considered, that though all men bring 
forth fruit, and though the fruit or work of a wicked 
man, and of a righteous man, may be much alike as to 
its external appearance, yet in the internal quality 
thereof, in the sight of God, there is an immense dif- 
ference, which difference depends entirely upon the 
end regarded in the fruit or work. 

As for example; if God and his word be the end 
regarded, the fruit is then good fruit, and the work a 
good work ; and it is so far good, but no further, as 
God and his word are regarded in it 

But on the contrary, if God and his word are not 
regarded herein, — if man brings forth fruit, or works 
a work, only with a view to himself and the world, 
that is, for the sake of his own honour, gain, or repu- 
tation ; who cannot see, that in this case the fruit 
must needs be corrupt fruity and the work an evil 
work, whatsoever be its external form or appearance. 

For who cannot see, that in this latter case there is 
Hothing of God and his Word in the fruit or work ^ 



i40 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

And if there be nothing of God and his Word there- 
in, there can be nothing good therein, inasmuch a^ 
it is an eternal truth, that there is none good but God, 
and therefore nothing can be truly good, but so far a« 
God is in it. 

Naj, who cannot see further, that in this latter case, 
where man brings forth fruit, or doeth a work, mereJjr 
with a view to himself, that is, to his own honour, 
gain, or reputation, the fruit must needs be inwardly 
corrupt, and the w^ork inwardly evil and full of abo- 
mination, howsoever pure and splendid it may appear 
outwardly, inasmuch as the self of man alone is in it, 
and the self of man separate from God is most evil, 
corrupt, and abominable ? 

Be it remembered then, as an everlasting truth, that 
no good fruit can be produced, or no good work can be 
wrought by man, but so far as God and his word are 
regarded in it ; all other fruit, or every other work, 
must needs be evil, because it is full of evil within^ 
and may be fitly compared in this case with that natu- 
ral fruit, which appears beautiful without, but within 
is eaten with worms, or full of rottenness and putri- 
dity. 

Is it needful to add, that fruits or works of this 
description must needs be unblessed to man, and that 
there can be no real blessing in them, but so far as 
they are produced from or wrought in God ? For if 
God be the one only fountain of ail true blessing, then 
how plain is it to be seen, that no work or deed of 
man's can have any real blessing or blessedness in it, 



SERVANTS SENT FOfl FRtlTS. 141 

but SO far as the blessing and blessedness of God is in 
it ; and that the blessing of God cannot be in it, but so 
far as God and his word are regarded in it as the great 
end for which it is wrought or done ! 

Behold here then, beloved, the true and eternal rea- 
son, why God in all ages /za^sent, and in all ages will 
send his servants to receive from the husbandmen the 
fruits of the spiritual vineyard 1 

The reason is this: — Unless the fruits be thus given 
back by the husbandmen unto God, the great House- 
holder, under the humble acknowledgment that^ they 
are his fruits, and produced yVom him, they can never 
by any possibility become good fruits, or bring any 
blessing with them to the spiritual husbandmen. 

God therefore in all ages, infinitely willing to pro- 
mote the eternal happiness of his creatures, hath re- 
vealed to man by his servants the word of his eternal 
truth, to this great end, that man might no longer live 
unto himself alone, and bring forth fruit unto himself 
alone, whereby both he and his fruit must needs be 
unblessed and unholy, being separated from God arid 
his life, but that living unto God, and bringing forth fruit 
unto him, both he and his fruit might become eternally 
blessed and holy, being united to and filled with 
the life of the eternal God, who is the only fountain of 
all blessedness and of all holiness. 

For let us inquire now, what is it which this eternal 
God hath spoken and revealed to man in all ages by 
the word of his truth ? Is not the sum and substance 
thereof contained in these few words of his rightly un- 



142 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

^^tood ; " Give unto the Lord, O ye mightj, give unt^ 
the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the 
glory due unto his name ; worship the Lord in the beau- 
ty of holiness."^ 

But who now, let us ask, fulfils this great requirement . 
of the merciful God? Who are they that give unto the 
Lord glory a7id strength, and that worship him in the 
heauty of holiness ? 

Surely none can do this, but they who regard God 
in all their works, acknowledging him therein as the 
6wdand the all thereof, under the conviction that wrhat- 
soever is good and wise, and blessed in themselves, or 
in their works, is from God, and from him alone. 

Surely to think of giving God glory and strength, or 
of worship'ping him acceptably in any other way to the 
negiect of this, is the error of errors, the vanity of van- 
ities, and " the abomination of desolation, spoken of 
by ibe prophet, standing in the holy place "t For how 
can God be truly glorified and acceptably worshipped, 
but in and by man's works, so far as they are wrought 
in GoL and he is regarded in them? Doth not Jesus 
Christ say, '' Herein is my Father glorified, that ye 
bring f*)rtri inuch fruit V'l But what is this much fruit 
by which the Father is glorified, but those good and 
usef il works in w^iich he is regarded as the origin and 
the end, and which are therefore acknowledged, in all 
humility of thankfulness and adoration, to be from him, 
and to be his ? 

* Psalm xsix. 1, 2. 
f Matt. siv. 15. 
\ Joan XV. 8. 



!' 



SERVANTS SENT FOR FRUITS. ' 143 

Besides, do not the works of man constitute the man, 
and is not every man what his work is, inasmuch as 
his whole soul and spirit, his love and wisdom, his 
will and understanding, all his faculties, in short, both 
of mind and body, must needs be in his work ? To se- 
parate God then from man's work, by not regarding 
God therein, or, what is the same thing, by regarding 
other ends more than God — what is this but separating 
God from man? and if God be separated from man, 
what is there left, by which either man can be blessed, 
or God can be glorified ? 

Would you then, beloved, avoid this error of errors , 
this monstrous inconsistency and enormity in the ser- 
vice and the w^orship of God? Would you fulfil the 
blessed intentions of the revelation of God, and be- 
come partakers of all that inconceivable blessedness 
which he hath from eternity purposed to all those who 
shall receive and obey his truth? Learn, then, this 
short but weighty lesson, when/ie sends his servants (as 
he certainly will send) to receive the fruits of your vine- 
yards, not to send them away empty. — Understand 
me well — The servants whom he sends ^ are the truths of 
his holy word ; and the truths of his holy word requires 
not so much for his glory, as for your blessedness, that 
you should bring forth much fruit ; or, in other words, 
that yjpu should abound in good works. They require 
further, in order that your works may be good, and 
' thereby be blessed to you, that you should regard and 
acknowledge him therein, as the all of their goodrjess, 
and consequently the all of blessing, which can possi- 



144 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

bly be in either you or your works. If you despise or 
disregard this requirement of the truth of God, your 
religion must then needs be altogether a vain and dead 
thing, and whatsoever may be the profession of your 
lips, you cannot glorify God, or save yourselves there- 
by. But if you fulfil this requirement, your religion 
will then be full of life and blessing, and it will com- 
municate life eternal, and blessing eternal to you, be- 
cause it will be full of God, and will bring down the 
life and blessing of God into all that you think or do. 

But you ask. How shall we fulfil this requirement, 
so that we may be partakers of all its blessedness ? I 
answer — Only be sincere in regarding the Lord Jesus 
Christ in your works. Learn to make him and his 
word the end of all that you intend, think, and do. In 
your daily callings and employments, and in whatso- 
ever you do, keep your minds perpetually open to his 
blessed influences, under the constant acknowledgment 
that all your power to be well employed, and to do 
the smallest good work, is from him. But, since you 
cannot regard Jesus Christ as the end of your works, 
only so far as you remove other inferior ends, such as 
your own vain glory, and worldly gain, let this be your 
chief and principal care, to watch against and separate 
these lower ends^ that they may never at any time ex- 
alt themselves above that great and eternal end, on 
which your everlasting peace and salvation depends* 

If you will be faithful and obedient to these few 
plain gospel ^rules, you will then soon bring forth fruit 
-in your vineyards to the glory of the great Householder: 



SERVANTS SENT FOR. FRUITS. 145 

your fruit also will he good fruit, because the goodness 
of God will be in it ; and it will be blessed fruit, be- 
cause it will be full of the blessing of God, And thus, 
when he sendeth his senKtnts to receive this fruit from 
you, you will acknowledge it to be his, and give it to 
him willingly and thankfully, and he will be infinitely 
delighted therewith, and will give it you back again 
with this inconceivable and divine benediction, " Well 
done, thou good and faithful servant, thou hast been 
faithful in a few things, enter thou into the joy of thy 
Lord. . AMEN, 



■0 



I 



ON THE 

SERVANTS BEING BEATEN, 
KILLED, &c. 

OR THE 

KEJECTION AND DESTRUCTION OF DIvmF 
TRUTHS. 



SERMON XT. 



Matt. xxi. 35. 



And the husbandmen took his sti'vants^ and heat 
one, and killed another, and stoned another. 



1 HE preceding verse, with which this is immediate - 
]y connected, runs thus : — *' And when the time of the 
fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husband- 
men, that they might receive the fruits of it." 

It has already b|£n shewn, in discoursing on these 
latter words, wliHis here meant by the servants, 
whom the householder sen^ to the husbandmc/i to receive 



148 THr HOUSEHOLDER. 

the fruits of the vineyard; and that according to the 
spiritual interpretation of the parable, these servants 
signify the teachers of heavenly truth ; and not only 
the teachers of heavenly truth, but also the heavenly 
truths themselves which are taught, inasmuch as aU 
truth is in a supreme sense the servant of the great Je- 
hovah, sent forth to minister to, and accomplish his 
divine purposes with respect to man. 

From this sense of the word servants, it will now 
plainly appear how we are to understand the w^ords 
oi my text, where it is written, " The husbandmein 
took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, 
and stoned another." 

According to the spiritual interpretation of the pa- 
rable before us, in its relation to spiritual husbandmen, 
and the Lord's spiritual vineyard, which is his church, 
these words can mean nothing more or less than this, 
that the men of the church, or the spiritual husband- 
«men, took the heavenly truths, which were sent to 
them from heaven hy the great Householder, to re- 
ceive the fruits of their vineyard ; and when they had 
taken them, instead of applying them to the blessed 
purposes for which they were sent, they did violence 
to them, killed them, and destroyed them. 

Let me entreat, beloved, at this time, your most par- 
ticular attention to this impious and dreadful conduct 
of the spiritual husbandmen, which perhaps is more 
common, than we are many of us aware of, and in the 
guilt of which we ourselves maj^^Hpribly be involved^ 
wheft^ are least thinking of^ajj^such enormity. 




■■*^>i^,H»^. 



'9 ixx -qmn^^^ ^ 

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Id 'D2y ^MaXVag SX\^YAH5S 3HX 



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'S0 [A aqof ^ 

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pUB )S9|[nj 9q| u[ SI 'ypidi diji si qoiqM 'pjOM siq ;Bq| 
*jfqaj9q §ui;b[I1i;ui /[uiB{d j^^' ajq 9q] puB 'q;na| 9qi 
puB '/bm aq; UJB j ,, 'aaB[d jaq^ouB ur puB ^^t- ^Jlf 
^JB i^aq; puB 'juids ajB ^^aq) 'noA o\u.n >|Bads j ;Bq) 
spjOM aqj^ „ *s9iB[a9p :|suq3 snsaf /[§uipj.oaoy 

'\i \\\\JA pa[(g aq puE 
*aA0i siq] JO a^iB^iBtl saApsmaq:^ /[Ucssaoau ;snui iCaqj 
•^joj9j9q) puB 'dcioi [^j;uassa ;souj puB ^sajnd aq| ^ 
,oqM *]sijq3 sns9f Jo 'por) uiojj paaooid ^aq; 'sr uosBa.i 
aq; i ^}\\ siq; jo {[nj ajB 'afqig; ^^\ P pw^ ^q; o; 2um 
-uiSaq aq; uiojj 'por) jo pao^\ aq; jo sq;nj; aq; [[y 

•jaq;oiiB spjBjiio; auo i';uBqo pu\i 
*;suq3 snsap p-ioq aq; Jo *por) o; aAOj 'd^ump puc 
5iZo/ SI 'q;nj; jo ajq ^/i^ aq; puB 'q;nj|jo 9ji[ aqj^ 

•noA o; ;i uiBidxa o; jnoABapua [{iaa j ^- ^^?u; 
yb dfij aq; X'q ;uBaui si ;BqM uaq; moujj no^C pjno^^ 

•saAq puB s;aBaq uAiO anOiC ui 'por) jo diqsiOAi pu^ 
o§pa|A\ou>{ anj; aq; 'spaoM jaq;o ui 'jo f aji[ [BUj[9;a 
inoX 'uoiS[[aa moA -zia 'sapisaq pjaoM aq; ui §uiq| 
/uB uBq; noX o; jaiilp aq o; ;qgno qoiqM ^vy^ qiiM uoi; 
-oauuoD asopjiaq; JO asnBoaq 'uBaui suoissajdxa asaq; 
;BqM iuBa( cuou p^noqs nOiC ;Bq; 'uaq; 'auii; qSiq si ;j 
•suoissajdxa asaq; Aq ;uBaiTi si ;BqAV aapuoAi puB 'afij 
c;i /lv(nr) Sm^vf jo puB 'ypi.ii fo dfy gyi jo Jiiaq o; pas 

'HsaiofiasnoH ^HJ f)9 7 

1^ 



-lachns bi^ i\ox ''^^^Aiasap ]i uoiju9Ue aq^ pafqns siq; 
ii3Ai§ ajojopaaq ;ou 9ABq oqAi asoqj jo jaquinu aq; 
IsSuoraij 'no^ jo ainos 'paA0[9q ^sdeqaad ajB noj^ 
'dsvouvo dcanidjffb puv ssdldfij dudiu v sdvioodq pun 'dJLof 
'dq sv(si ^ imiai aq o} S9SV93 ^i *;i uiojj A^/a^s ub^q\ si 9JI[ 
sj! uaqM ^uq) 'jsqmij pue 5;z mo.tflirf^w uajfv^ dqfivni 
ojt| s)i ;^q] 'osppuB /;i wt a/// i? sw/ i/;n^; jeq; 'anj^ 
^iqBjDqeun puB i{[{Biu9)9 SI ;i ^a.{ ')i a\ou3[ ^ou A^em 
*ssauss9{)qSnoqj jtjuiuiud puB ss3{aj€D s q^noiq) ^uhui 
qSnoqjL "sSuiq^jo 9jn|BU 9q^ 9§uBq9;ouuBD pur^a^ui 
JO UOi;U9U12Ul pUB 93UBiOU§l l€J9U9§ 9q) ';i9qAioj^ 
•§uiq; 9[qB;gojdun puB pB9p 9jaui « st put 'qini| 9q o; 
S9SB93 '9ji[ s;i JO p9Aud9p 'tf^iiji )Bq) p9iiiJ0jui ^[^qSrj 
9JB [[B JO }S9M9j sdBqa9d p\iB — ^s)sisuoD qinj; jo ajq 9qi 
5BqAi ui 9JBAVB 9JB sd^qiod |^i;s j9av9j — \\ m dfij dvjnoii 
'jLvd fiuv sBq u^mi ^et{i 9JBA\b \\^ja 9jb sdeqaad Ai9 j 

•pfjOM UBi^suqQ aq; ut ^u9S9jd ;b panoqB qonui 
OS qoiqAi ^doipnjid fo s]ici9 9q) poB piduSpnC fo sJiOJidd 
aq) '9JinsB9Ui ;B9a§ b ui 'a^ndtur ^Tbui 9Ai uoi)Bi9pisaoD 
qons JO ^UBAi aq) o) si )i puB 'suBi^suqQ saAjasmaq^ 
IIBD oqM asoq^ jo if;qBjaua§ aq; ^^q paiapisuoo a[^i[ 
;nq^ ^Bp siq; ;b 'pajBaj aq o^ si ;i 'pafqns b si siqj^ 
•\(inJLifo afij at/? o; pjBSaj ui '^sag *p«V 

•uopBjapisuoD 
ano JO pafqns snoiA9jd 9q) 9q u^^ siq) )9q -rwcuiy 
U9Y02 dq fivm %{}nM fo dfii dy} ^oi/ puv 'iiinu^ fo a/// ai// 
fo dJinpyu dy} si ^vqcn 9ai§ap auios ui uM0u>i X[snoiA 
-aid 9q )i ss9iun 'sjsisuoo pnpuoo siq; jo iCjiujJ0U9 puB 
:qin§ aq) uiajaqM mou^ o; 'aaAaA\oq 'ajqissod )ou si }} 

Qfl *02y ^N3I,V3a SXNVAH3S 3HX 



153 

their minds or memories, it will quickly be deprived 
of all its life of love and charity I 

For how plain is it to see, that, in this case, the evil 
and unrighteous love, which is in the man's heart, will 
soon destroy the good and righteous love, which is ia 
the truths that he has heard and read ! Just, for in- 
stance, as if a sheep or a lamb was to be taken into a 
den of lions or wolves, who cannot see, that the iions 
and wolves would quickly destroy the life of the sheep 
or lamb, and tear it in pieces. 

Truth, thus deprived of its life, it is further to be ob» 
served, becomes a mere dead carcase, and, like all 
other carcases, is extremely loathsome, offensive, and 
useless ; and such- is the truth of all those, who say 
they have truth, and yet have not charity, and the 
works of charity ; or, in other words, who say they 
have the knowledge of God, and yet are destitute of 
the life and the love of God, living in vanity, thought- 
lessness, and worldly-mindedness. Whatsoever the 
intellectual attainments of such persons may be. Or 
howsoever they may imagine themselves to be in the 
faith, or in the truth, there is reason to fear, that in the 
sight of God, -they are seen like unto those whited se- 
jmlchres, of which the Lord speaks, '' which indeed 
appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead 
men's bones, and all uncleanness."^ 

Behold here then, beloved, how, and in what man- 
He/, the life of truth may be taken away and destroyed ! 

* Matt, xxiii, 27. 



154 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

It cannot be taken away and destroyed in its foun- 
tain, any more than the life of God can be destroyed 
in its fountain ; but it may be taken away and de- 
stroyed, when it is separated from its fountain, and re- 
ceived into the mind or memory of man : and it is 
in danger of being so destroyed by every unreasona- 
ble artd vain affection of man's heart ; by every inor- 
dinate love or lust ; by every wrong attachment or cri- 
minai inclination ; by every perverse thought, and false 
persuasion of the impenitent, unconverted, and unre- 
generate mind. These are the cruel lions and wolves 
which destroy and devour the innocent sheep and 
lambs of heaven. These are the wicked and ungodly 
husbandmen, which *' take the servants of the great 
and good Householder,. and beat one, and kill another, 
?.nd stone another. These, in short, are those abomi- 
nable scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites, in all agea 
and places, of whom it is eternally true, what was de- 
clared of old by the Lprd of life, ^' Therefore also, 
said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and 
apostles ; and some of them they shall slay and perse- 
cute, that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed 
from the foundation of the world, may be required of 
this generation.'*^ 

Beloved, I am persuaded you would all of you trem- 
ble at the thought of being of the number of such mur- 
derers, and of having the blood cf the prophets required 
at your hands. I am persuaded also, you are thank- 

^ |.uke xi, 49, oQ. 



THE SERVANTS BEATEN, &C. 155 

iul to be warned of your danger, and will be yet fur- 
rier thankful to be taught how you may escape such 
dreadful guilt ; and instead of taking away the life of 
truth, or doing violence to it, may rather preserve and 
cherish it, as the source of life eternal in your own 
bosoms. 

Under tliis persuasion, I beg leave, in all earnest- 
ness of affection, and with that zeal which becomes a 
sincere minister and defender of the truth, to press up- 
OQ your observation and practice, the following brief 
admonitions, with which I shall conclude this dis> 
course. 

Whensoever, from henceforth, you hear or read the 
Word of God, bethink yourselves well of the holy life 
which it; contains, and is filled with ; and as you value 
your eternal well-beings take hee<i of depriving it of 
&at holy life. 

For this purpose, be sure never to hear or read the 
Word of God, or any doctrine of truth thence derived, 
but in an humble and penitent state of heart before God, 
under the real acknowledgment of your many evils, 
and of the necessity of receiving new life, or new 
love, before you can enter into the kingdom of hea- 
ven : otherwise, when you are not aware of it, the 
evils of your hearts, which are unrepented of, and 
consequently unremoved, will assuredly take the truths 
which you hear and read, and beat one, kill another, 
and stone another. 

Let it therefore be your most earnest and constant 
prayer to God, that you may be delivered from this 



156 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

inost dreadful of all blood-guiltiness ; remembering well 
the divine caution and admonition, " Touch not min^ 
anointed, and do my prophets no harm ;"* and under 
the full conviction, that to destroy in your own hearts 
the life of truth, which is the life and the love of God, 
is as great an offence again?! God, and as destructive 
and hurtful to your own souls, as to kill a prophet, an 
/apostle, or an evangelist. 

If you will attend well to these few admonitions, 
Tou will soon be made sensible of their salutary effect 
upon your hearts and lives. The truths of the Word 
of God will then always find your minds in a fit and 
prepared state for their reception. There will be no 
k)nger any heatings any killings any stoning of these 
heavenly messengers ; but instead of such outrage, you 
will give them the welcome of affection and friendship, 
as to the servants of God. Nor will your welcome of 
friendship and affection be unrewarded ; for they, in 
their turn, will give unto you what they are commis- 
sioned from their great Lord to give, and what they 
bear constantly in their bosom, viz. the pearl of great 
price ^ the hidden manna ^ the fruit of the tree of life ; or, 
to speak plainly, and without a metaphor, the holy 
and eternal life of God, which is the life of heavenly 
love and charity. They will make this their life to 
be your life, and their God to be your God ; and thus 
opening in you the everlasting kingdom of divine 
righteousness, peace, and truth, by effecting your con- 

* Psalm cv. \5. 



THE SERVANTS BEATEN, &C. 157 

junction with Jesus Christ, in his life and love, they 
will convince you experimentally of his promised bles- 
sing to all who should receive aright the truths of his 
Word, where it is written, " H^ that receiveth you, 
r^ceiveth me ; and he that receiveth me, receiveth 
him that sent me."* AMEN. 

♦ Matt. X. 40. 



ON THE I 

OTHER SERVANTS MORE THAN THE 
FIRST ; 

OR THE I 

REPEATED MESSAGES OF GOD TO MAN. i 



SERMON XVL 



Matt. xxi. 3G. 

Again he sent other servants more than the first, 
and they did unto them likewise, 

X HESE words are in immediate connexion with the 
two preceding verses, which run thus : *' And when 
the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants 
to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits 
of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and 
beat one, and killed another, and stoned another." 

It has already been shewn what we are liere to un- 
derstand by the servants^ whom the '' householder sent 
to the husbandmen, to receive the fruits of the vine- 
yard ;" and further, what we are to understand by the 



160 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

" husbandmen taking the servants, and beating one, 
and kilhng another, and stoning another." 

The servants, spiritually considered, are the truths of 
God's Word, which are ever sent by the great House- 
holder to the spiritual husbandmen, for the sake of pro- 
curing and receiving spiritual fruit, inasmuch as none 
can produce spiritual fruit, that is, fruit unto God, but 
by and through the truths of the Word of God. 

To beat, to kill, and to stone these servants, then, 
denotes the various ways by which unfaithful husband- 
men, in all ages and places, do violence to, and de- 
stroy the heavenly truths of God's Word. This, it 
was shewn, is principally done by destroying the life 
of truth, which is the life of love and charity ; and 
truth is thus deprived of its life, whensoever it is re- 
ceived into the understanding alone, and doth not en- 
ter into and influence the will, the afifections, and the 
life of man. 

Notwithstanding the violence thus done to the Jirsi 
servants sent by the good Householder to receive the 
fruits of the vineyard, we find him still urgent with 
the same blessed motives, and to the same adorable 
ends ; again he sent other servants more than the first. 

And notwithstanding this repeated and increased 
mercy and kindness of the good Householder, we find 
the unfaithful husbandmen still persisting in their ob- 
stinate rejection of, and outrageous violence against 
the heavenly messengers sent unto them ; they did 
unto them likewise, that is, they heat one, killed another^ 
and stoned another. 



OTHER SERVANTS SENT. 161 

Two considerations of the utmost importance are 
here suggested to our notice. 

First, Vhe persevering kindness of the good Househol- 
der ; and 

Secondly, The persevering obstinacy of the unfaithful 
husbandmen. 

May I bespeak vour most earnest attention to each 
of these considerations ! And, first, To the persevering 
kindness of the good Householder, 

Jigain he sent other servants more than the first. 

From the beginning of the creation this scripture 
hath been fulfilled respecting the great Creator, and 
there hath been no age or time in which he hath not 
been sending other servants more than the first, to re- 
ceive the fruits of his spiritual vineyard, the church. 

Immediately after the fall of our first parents from 
that blessed life and order of heaven, in which they 
were created, the good Householder was not forgetful of 
the w^ork of his hands, but by the dictates of his holy 
Spirit in their hearts, sent these his heavenly messen- 
gers and servants to call them back again into that pa- 
radise w^hich they had forfeited, that so both he and 
they might again enjoy the blessed fruits of it. 

Again, when the world was further lost in wicked- 
ness, hy a further miserable departure from the law 
of the love of God in their hearts and lives, which 
ended in the destruction thereof by a flood ; the righ- 
ieous Noah was another servant sent by the heavenly 
Householder, to make known his eternally holy and 
blessed will to the spiritual husbandmen, and thus re- 
ceive again the fruits of the spiritual vineyard, 
P 2 



I 



162 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

To the labours of this servant succeeded those of 
divers others^ for the same blessed purposes. Who 
hath not read how Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the- 
patriarchs, in their respective generations, were so 
many heavenly messengers from the holy God to de- 
liver his people a message of mercy and truth, re* 
specting the fruit of their vineyard ? 

Who hath not heard also of Moses and Aaron, and 
an innumerable company of holy priests and Levites 
under the old law, to whom the divine Householder 
revealed further his holy will for the fructification of 
his church, when the thunderings and lightnings from 
Mount Sinai proclaimed the majesty and the sanctity 
of the law of the Ten Commandments, which have re- 
mained in all ages, and still remain unto this day, to 
call man back again unto his God, that his vineyard 
may be rendered fruitful in all heavenly righteousness, 
joy, and peace ? 

But the time would fail me, to tell of all the other 
servants who had their commission from the great 
Householder, for the same blessed ends and purposes- 
You have all read of Gideon, and of Barak ; of Sam- 
son, and of Jephthah ; of Samuel also, and David, and 
the prophets ; and you cannot but know how these al- 
so were other servants of God, more than the first; 
sent by him, in their generations, unto the spiritual 
husbandmen, to declare to them that law of eternal 
life, whereby both they and the fruit of their vine- 
yards might be received back again into the bosom of 
the everlasting Lord, and thus be blessed in the par- 
Icipations of his unutterable mercy and truth. 



OTHER SERVANTS SENT. 163 

But why need we thus look back to the records of 
the old world, to be convinced of this continual perse- 
vering will and blessed purpose of the divine House- 
holder respecting his vineyard ? Surely there is suffi- 
cient evidence nearer home, and in our own time, in 
confirmation of this great truth ; and we need but look 
each of us into our own minds and consciences to be ful- 
ly persuaded, that the God of infinite mercy will never 
cease to send other servants more than the firsts to re- 
call and recover back unto himself the fruit of his spi» 
ritual vineyard, that so it may be eternally blessed 
unto the spiritual husbandmen. 

For let me ask — Who amongst us, at one time or 
other, hath not received a message from the holy Go(J 
in his mind and conscience, speaking to this effect, — 
*' Give me the fruit of thy vineyard ?" Yea, who 
amongst us hath not heard this message often repeated^ 
and thus been visited by other servants of the great 
Householder, inore than thejirst ? 

Let us examine this matter attentively^ because our 
everlasting well-being is involved in it. 

How often have w^e heard our duty towards God 
enforced and explained \ How often have we becH 
called to repent, and to turn with our best affections 
unto God, that so we may love him with all our hearty 
and mind, and soul, and strength! How often have 
we been admonished by words from without, and also 
by dictates from within, that we were not created for 
this perishable world only, but for the everlasting en- 
joyment of God in another and an eternal world ; aod 



164 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

that, therefore, the best and only wise use we can make 
of our present lives in this world, is to prepare our 
souls for that eternal enjoyment, by giving back unto 
God all that we receive from him ! How often have 
the lessons of heavenly truth and wisdom becii thus 
sounded in our ears, and repeated calls given us to de- 
vote ourselves to the living God, and to enter into a 
covenant of righteousness and peace with the Father of 
spirits 1 How often have we been warned of the dan- 
ger and delusion of sin, and been shewn the necessity 
thereby of setting a watch over our own hearts I How 
often, in short, have we been taught, that our truest 
wisdom is to be acquainted with God, and that our 
highest blessedness is to become again his images and 
likenesses, by a thorough conformity of our lives to the 
words of his truth, and the dictates of his eternal Spirit 
within us ! 

We have not, perhaps, been v'mted persorially w'lih 
this message, by immediate servants from God, such 
as righteous Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or the pa- 
triarchs of old. We have not been with Moses upon 
Mount Sinai, and beheld the visible glory of the 
Almighty, and heard him speak to us face to face. We 
have not, perhaps, seen in our streets one of the old 
prophets, preaching repentance, and calling unto new- 
ness of life. But what then ? We have heard the 
same heavenly lessons, and the same heavenly lan- 
guage, which were once spoken by Noah, by Abra- 
ham, by Isaac, by Jacob, by the patriarchs, by Mo- 
vies, and by the prophets: and what matters it, who or 



OTHER SERVANTS SENT. 165 

what the instrument is, by which the will and the wis- 
dom of God is made known to us, provided it be but 
made known ? If all the patriarchs, prophets, and 
apostles, that ever lived upon earth, were to preach 
daily in our streets, they could only deliver to us the 
aame message of truth and wisdom, which we have 
already received, and heard a thousand times repeated 
in our ears. 

Behold here then, beloved, the merciful and perse- 
vering kindness of the good Householder, and how in 
all ages, and amongst all people, he hath earnestly 
sought to recover to himself his lost vineyard, that so 
the spiritual husbandmen might be delivered from the 
sin and misery of living unto themselves alone, and by 
rendering back unto God that which, of right, belong- 
€th to him, might become everlastingly blessed in the 
further participations of his unutterable mercy, truths 
and peace ! 

And may this consideration lead us to reflect wor- 
Ihily upon that astonishing mercy and love of our 
heavenly Father, which is thus earnest to gather to 
himself, both us and the fruit of our vineyards ! May 
it lead us further to reflect aright upon the impor- 
tance and the sanctity of those repeated messages of 
truth, which he is continually sending to us for this 
blessed purpose I May we henceforth be enabled to 
see, that wheresoever truth is, there a servant of 
God is ; and wheresoever a servant of God is, there 
God himself is! May we thus be led to receive and 
venerate ttie truth, as we would receive and venerate 



166 THE HOVSEHOLDER. 

the God of truth, and to be as much afraid of rejecting 
and destroying the message, as we would be afraid of 
rejecting and destroying him who sends it, and whose 
it is! — But, oh ! above all, may we be led to remem- 
ber, what it is, which hath in all former ages, and 
which doth also in our age, alone reject and destroy 
ihe truth, viz. that it is the vain and foolish love of our- 
selves, of the world, and the flesh, more than of God 
and our neighbour ; and that therefore we can in no 
other possible way, cherish and keep alive the truth 
in ourselves, but by renouncing vain affections, that 
so the love of God and of our neighbour may prevail 
and rule in us. 

To conclude — You have now heard another mes- 
sage from God — another servant hath this day been 
sent unto you from the great Householder, to receive 
thefndt of your vineyards — Oh, consider not the in- 
strument by whom this message is sent, but rather 
consider him, from whom it is sent, and whose ser\^ant 
it is — consider his gracious purpose in sending it, and 
the infinite and astonishing mercy and love which is ia 
it — consider what an holy and awful message hath now 
ent<^red into your ears — the Creator and Redeemer of 
the world makes a demand u&on you ; a demand of 
the fruit of your vineyards ; a demand which you 
.cannot refuse him, without destroying yourselves; and 
which, whensoever you are wise enough to grant it to 
him. will prove your salvation. He only asks for that^ 
which it will be death to yon to keep from him, and 
which he will givt y«u back again with life eternal^ 



OTHER SERVANTS SENT. 167 

when be sees y©u obedient to his heavenly message. 
Oh, then, let the mercy and the wisdom of that mes- 
sage now find a place in your hearts, that so you may 
be led to answer the just demands of a merciful and 
righteous God. Let it never be said of you, that when 
the heavenly Householder " sent other servants unto 
you more than the first, you did unto them likewise." 
Rather let it be said of you, " Blessed are they who 
j hear the word of God, and keep it."* AMEN. 

* Luke jd. 28. 



ON THE 

PERSEVERING OBSTINACY 

OF THE 

UNFAITHFUL HUSBANDMEN. 



SERMON XVIL 



Matt. xxi. 36. 



id again he sent other servants more than the 
Jirst, and they did unto them likewise. 

IN the foregoing discourse was pointed out the perse- 
vering kindness of the good Householder, in sending 
other servants more than the first y to recei\^ the fruit of 
his vineyard. 

- I shall now proceed to consider, as was further pro- 
posed, the persevering obstinacy of the unfaithful hus- 
bandmen, to whom these other servants were sent, as 
expressed in these latter words of the ^ext, They did 
Unto them likewise. 

The lesson of spiritual instruction intended for our 
use by these words of the parable, appears to be this ; 
(hat whosoever, in consequence of evil of life, rejectn 
«! 



170 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

and destroys in himself one truth of God and heaven, 
rejects and destroys in himself all the truths of God 
and heaven. 

I say, in consequence of evil of life, by which is to be 
understood the government of an evil love ; for every 
man's life is such as his governing love is. If the go- 
verning love be good, that is, towards God and the 
things of his kingdom, then the life will of necessity be 
good; but if the governing love be evil, that is, to- 
wards the world and the flesh, then the life must of ne- 
cessity be evil also. 

Let me call your particular attention to this consi- 
deration, how evil of life, that is, an evil governing 
love, rejects and destroys in man, not one only, but all 
the truths of God and heaven. 

It is generally supposed, that a man who is in evil 
of life, can receive. and believe the truths of God, and 
thereby have faith, as fully and as perfectly as another 
man who is in the good of life. 

But this supposition, if it be carefully examined, 
will be found to be altogether groundless, and without 
foundation. 

It is indeed true, that an evil man, or one who is in 
evil of life, can see the truths of God as well as a good 
man, or one who is in the good of life ; but then it is 
well to be considered, that there is a great diflerence 
between merely seeing the truth, and what is called in 
the sacred Scriptures receiving and believing the truth. 

An evil man may see the truth, but then he doth not 
receive and believe it. The reason is, the truth enters 



OTHER SERVANTS BEATEN* 171 

into and manifests itself in his understanding or thought, 
'but then it doth not enter into and affect his will and 
intentions ; and whatsoever doth not enter into and af- 
fect man's will and intentions, cannot be said to enter 
into, or make any part of the man ; inasmuch as the 
xqUI and intention is the z^hole of man ; and the under- 
standing, separate from the will and intention, makes 
properly no part of the man. 

A man, who is in evil of life, may say, that he be- 
lieves in God, and in the revelation of God : he may 
profess with his lips, that there is a heaven and a hell, 
and that good men go after death to the former, and 
wicked men to the latter : he may assent also to most 
other spiritual truths discoverable from the Word of 
God ; and on this account he fancies that he believes 
them, and would be much offended with any one who 
.should endeavour to convince him to the contrary. 

But if it be true, as the Scripture testifietb, that man 
believeth with the heart, and that he can only believe 
with the heart, then it is equally true, that this man, 
who is in evil of life, notwithstanding all his profes- 
sions, cannot believe. The reason is, because his heart 
is not in his belief; and if his heart be not in it, he 
jm^: himself is not in it ; for the heart or the love, as was 
"' before observed, is what properly constitutes the man. 
If, therefore, the mind of a man, who is in evil of 
life, could be inwardly examined and seen into, as it 
is examined and seen by the all-piercing eye of God, 
[^ it would most assuredly be found, that he doth not be- 
lieve ii3 a single truth of thQ Word of God 5 but that 



I 



J' 



172 THE HOUSEHOLDER, 

he violently rejects and destroys them all in himseli', 
as they enter into his understanding, notwithstanding 
the appearance to himself that he receives and admits 
them all. 

And would you know, beloved, the deep reason an 
eternal ground of this, and why an evil man cannot 
possibly believe the truths of God ; it is because evil 
and truth are two opposites, and are therefore continu- 
ally acting in contrariety the one to the other : for 
evil is from bejieath ; truth is from above : evil is from 
the evil one, that is, the devil ; truth is from the good 
one, that is, from God : evil, wheresoever it enters, 
creates hell, and misery, and darkness; truth, where- 
soever it enters and is received, makes heaven, and 
happiness, and light : evil, therefore, is the destroyer 
of man ; truth is man^s saviour: evil is a thing most 
defiled, most deformed, and hateful ; truth is a thing 
most pure, most beautiful, and lovely. Between two 
such opposites, it must be plain to see, there can be 
no possibility of agreement ; and hence it is, that in 
whatsoever heart of man the love of evil bears rule, 
and hath the ascendancy, there truth, with all its hea- 
venly family of intelligences, graces, and virtues, must 
of necessity be expelled, persecuted, and slain. 

The Lord speaks of this internal and eternal oppo- 
sition subsisting between evil and truth, where he saith, 
'' Every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither 
cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved ;"* 
and in another place, *• No man can serve two masters, 

* John iii. 20; 



OTHER iSERVATS BEATEN. 173 

for cither he will hate the one and love the other, or 
else he will hold to the one and despise the other. 
Ye cannot serve God and Bl^mmon."* 

Behold here then the true and eternal reason, why 
they who are in the love of evil, or, waat is the same 
thing, in whom an evil love hath the rule of ascendan- 
cy, cannot possibly receive the truths of God, but must 
needs reject, destroy, and slay them all in their hearts 
and lives, like the unfaithful husbandmen described in 
the parable. 

The reason why they must needs reject, destroy, 
and slay them a/Z, is this : 

Jill truths relating to God and his kingdom are owe, 
and are united together in a unity which is indivisible. 
They may be compared in this respect to one heaven- 
ly and beautiful form or body, which, though compos- 
ed of innumerable parts and organs, is yet but one form 
or body : this is the case with all the truths contained 
in the word of God, or the sacred scriptures : they ap- 
pear indeed as if they were diverse, scattered, and dis- 
united, and as if they bad little or no connexion with 
each other ; when yet the fact is, there is the closest 
relationship, harmony, and oneness, subsisting between' 
them, whereby they not only are one, but also act as 
one, and are accordingly received or rejected as one. 

As for example — a good man, that is, one who is 
in the love of good, which is the love of God and of 
his neighbour, by virtue of the good in which his mind 
is principled, rejoices in hearing or reading the truths 

^ Matt. vi. 24. 

Q2 



174 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

of the word of God, because he finds them in agree- 
ment with, and highly congenial to the principle of 
good in his own mind. I say then, that this good man, 
so hearing and reading, receives not 07ie only, but all 
the truths of the heavenly volume, in consequence of 
their unity and indivisibility ; and whether he thinks 
of it or not, he is in the all of truth, and the all of 
truth is likew^ise in him, opening, creating, and form- 
ing in him its own heaven of righteousness and peace. 

On the contrary, an evil man, that is, one who is in 
the love of evil, which is the inordinate love of him- 
self and the world, more than of God and his neigh- 
bour, though he may seem to himself to receive some- 
truths from the word of God, when he hears or reads 
it, yet in reality he receives none. The reason is, his 
evil is contrary to the zchole truth, and truth cannot be 
received in part only. Inasmuch, therefore, as he re- 
jects and destroys the vi^hole, he must of necessity re^ 
ject and destroy all its parts. 

Much of serious and instructive reflection, beloved; 
will be excited in your minds by what has been said, 
if it be duly attended to. 

You will learn from it, how much reason you have 
to tremble at, and to be upon your guard against, the 
love cfevil, or an evil love, which thus in its very na- 
ture is contrary to a// the truths of God, and therefore 
will infallibly slay them all in your minds, so far as it 
is suffered to have the pre-eminence. 

You will therefore see the necessity of making it -a 
^jvibject of your continual prayers to God, to discover 
to you more especially what your governing love is\ 



OTHER SERVANTS BEATEN* 175 

whether it be in good or in evil, under a serious ap- 
prehension, that jour reception or your rejection of 
heavenly truth will depend ahogether upon this ruling 
principle in your minds. 

But you will not be content in this case with only 
praying to God. Recollecting that your salvation de- 
pends upon this discovery, and under a just alarm lest 
the folly of the unfaithful husbandmen should be your 
folly, you will not fail to search into and examine most 
diligently your own minds by the light of God's word, 
touching the most secret purposes, ends, and intentions 
of ygur lives, whether they be towards God, or from 
God. You will never rest till you thus know what 
you are, or what is the same thing, what your love is : 
and you will be afraid at any time of hearing or of 
reading the truths of God, unless you have good ground 
to believe, that you have first discovered and put 
away that in yourselves, which would defile or destroy 
them. 

Thus, you may have the most comfortable satisfac- 
tion to hope, that you will never be found amongst the 
number of the unfaithful husbandmen. The God of 
mercy will assuredly make known to you that evil 
love in yourselves, which is the sole destroyer of his 
truth, whensoever he sees you desirous to know it. 
He will also remove and separate it fro.n you, when- 
soever he perceives you willing to have it removed 
and separated. And so far as an evil love is removed 
and separated, so far a good love will assuredly enter 
an'^ be implanted ; and with this good love will be re- 
ceived at the same time the affection, the intelligence^ 



176 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

and the perception of all heavenly truth, because on 
this love is ever inscribed the divine blessedness^ 
where it is written, '' Blessed are your eyes, for they 
see ; and your ears, for they bear."* AMEN. 

^ Matt. M. 16. 



ON 'The 

HOUSEHOLDER'S SON, 

WITH THE 

REVERENCE DUE TO HIM, AND THE MANNER IN 
WHICH HE IS STILL CRUCIFIED. 



SERMON XVIII. 



Matt. xxi. 37, 38, S9. 

But last of all he sent unto them his Son^ sayings 

They will reverence my Son* 
But when the husbandmen saw the Son^ they said 

among themselves^ This is the heir : cow.e^ let 

us kill him^ and let us seize on his inheritance. 
And they caught him^ and cast him out of the 

vineyard, and slew him* 



The Son here spoken of hath manifest allusion to 
the Son of God, who was sent into the world by bis 
Father, the great Houtwlio/der, to receive the fruit of 
bis spiritual vineyard, the church. 



'78 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

You have often been taught from this place, that by 
God^s sending his Soti into the world, is meant his own 
descent and divine manifestation in the flesh, or human 
nature, to be 3l Redeemer and Saviour ; and that under 
this manifestation his name was called Jesus Christ, 
:vho is therefore the most high God, diflfering from the 
eternal Father only in this, that he is the Father mani- 
fested^ and united to the human nature^ which he as- 
sumed. 

I shall not, therefore, tate up your present time with 
any further confirmations or elucidations of this great 
Gospel truth, but shall rather call your attention to a 
few observations respecting the atrocious conduct of the 
unfaithtul husbandmen in rejecting and slaying thisS'on 
of the great Householder, 

It Uiight certainly have been expected, and nothing 
could be more reasonable than the expectation, liiat 
when ihe Son of the most high God appeared upon 
earth, he would have been received there by all ranks 
an-: orders of people, with a spirit and temper agree- 
able to the declaration of the great Householder, 
'* They will revereace my 5^71." 

If it be Considered who this Son was, what was his 
extraordinary birth and character, and what the bles- 
sed •::»tent of his appearing, viz. to make his creatures 
eternah'y wise and happy ; who would not have con- 
cluded, that his creatures would have received him 
accordingly, and that with one heart and one mind 
they would have snng hosannas to this Son of David, 
thi$ prince of everlasting peace ? Who would not have 



HOUSEHOLDER S SON SENT. 179 

concluded, that the world henceforth would learn 
righteousness; that all would go and be taught of this 
eternal wisdom to walk in the paths of peace ; and 
that mankind, receiving power from him to become the 
sons of God, would thus have entered again into that 
paradise of innocence and bliss fron* which they were 
fallen? 

Who, at least, could have conceived it possible that 
the Maker 3.nd Saviour of the world, when he appear- 
ed in it, should have been treated with the slightest 
degree of indignity by that world which he had made, 
and which he came to save ? Could it have entered 
into any human heart to imagine, that on such an oc- 
casion the prophetic words of this mighty 5o/i would 
have been fulfilled, which he before spake respecting 
himself, when he said, " They caught him, and cast 
him out of the vineyard, and slew him." 

And yetnotwithstandingall this appearance of impro- 
bability and impossibility, such inconceivable indignity 
and barbarity was exercised towards this Son of the 
great Householder, So far from being reverenced^ as 
might have been reasonably expected, we behold him 
derided, rejected, and slain. So far from being exalt- 
ed as a God, he is degraded below a jnan ; the Sa- 
viour of the world is thought not able to save himself; 
the Lord of the vineyard is cast out of it ; and the 
wicked husbandmen are foolish enough to think, that 
the vineyard will become to them a more blessed in- 
heritance, by the destruction of him, who could alone 
make it either their inheritan<:e or their blessing. 



180 , tHE HOUSEHOLDER. 

You are astonished, beloved, as well you may be, 
at this unparalleled folly, and outrageous injustice of 
the Jews of old. You wonder how they could thus 
divest themselves' of every principle of reason and hu- 
manity. You are shocked at that blindness which could 
not discern the glories of a manifested God ; and you 
are more shocked still at that hardness of heart, which 
was insensible to the tenderness of redeeming love, 
and which refused obedience to the calls of that mer- 
cy, which would again have opened heaven and para- 
dise. 

Possibly too you congratulate yourselves, and the 
Christian world in which you have had the happiness 
to be born, that you are not of the number of such 
murderers. You rejoice to think, that the world is 
now grown better and wiser than at the time when 
the Son of the great Householder was sent into it, to 
receive the fruits of his vineyard ; and you conceive 
therefore that it is impossible for the husbandmen nozv 
to do what the husbandmen did then^ viz. cast him out 
of the vineyard^ and slay him. 

You certainly do well to be astonished, and to be 
shocked at the folly and wickedness of the Jews of 
old ; and you cannot possibly excite in your minds too 
much horror at their atrocious proceedings in regard 
to the Son of God who appeared amongst them. 

But, when you congratulate yourselves and the Chris- 
tian w .rid, that you are not involved in Jewish guilt — 
when you conclude that the world is now grown so 
much better and wiser, that it is impossible the Sariour 



HOtrSEttdLDER^S SON SENT. iSl 

af it should be again crucified aad slain ; in this I must 
heg leave to suggest caution to you, lest, flattering 
yourselves with false appearances of the world about 
you, as if it was better and wiser, and more innocent 
than it really is, you should fall into a careless aftid 
dangerous security, which may be fatal to your best 
interests. 

I shall beg leave, therefore, on this occasion, to pro- 
pose to your most serious consideration and examina- 
tion, these few important but alarming inquiries. 

Is it not a notorious fact, that in the present Chri's- 
iian world, so called, the high and holy name of Jesus 
Christ, together with his sacred word and command- 
ment, is much reproached and blasphemed? 

Have we not lately seen a great and numerous peo* 
pie, who constituted a very considerable part of what 
is cailed the Christian world, absolutely rejecting the 
authority of the Gospel, and saying of Jesus Christ, i» 
the langu-^ge of the most terrible apostacy, '^ We wil) 
not have this man to reign over us ? 

In our own nation also, are not the principles of ir- 
religion and infidelity gaining ground upon us ? Do 
we not find, amongst all orders and classes of people in 
our land, a miserable relaxation of the bonds of reli- 
gious influence ? And hath not the consequence been a 
rejection of the Householder's Son ; a denial of the di* 
vinity and supremacy of that Saviour, to whom alone 
the vineyard of right belongeth ? ' 

But to bring the inquiry nearer to our own bosoms. 

R 



182 THE HOUSEHOLDER* 

The apostle speaks of those, who, through the pre- 
valence of evii, falling away from the convictions of 
truth which they had received, " crucify the Son of 
God afresh, and put him to an open shame.'** 

From this declaration of the apostle's, we are cer- 
tainly warranted in this conclusion, that all evil crxici- 
JiesthelSonofGod; thatevery inordinate lust, therefore, 
every unbridled passion, every temper and affection of 
the human heart, which is not under the government 
of heavenly wisdom, doeth all that at this day to the 
Saviour of the w^orld which the Jews of old did, when 
they said, " Crucify him, crucify him." 

We cannot indeed, at this day, take away the bodi- 
ly Yii^ of Jesus Christ: w^e cannot nail him to a cross 
ofiL'ood, as the Jews of old did, when they crucified 
him between two thieves : but what then ? we can do 
what is alike enormous, and alike destructive of our 
eternal welfare ; we can destroy in ourselves his spi- 
ritual life ; we can by our vain affections and foolish 
imaginations nail him to a spiritual cross : and which 
are we to suppose is the greater sin, to destroy the 
body, or to destroy the soul ? to crucify Christ in per- 
8071 ^ or Christ in spirit ? 

Here then let the inquiry be continued, and let it 
be asked, What is the present temper and spirit of our- 
selves, and of the world about us ? Do we see those, 
who caii themselves Christians, living by a Christian 
temper and spirit ? Do we live by such a temper and 
spirit ourselves? Are our lives under the direction of 

^ Hei). vi. 6. 



householder's son sent, 183 

the wisdom of Jesus Christ, or are they influenced by 
a contrary wisdom ? Have we, in short, the life of 
Christy or do we reject that life, by obeying the dic- 
tates of the contrary life, which is according to the spi- 
rit of that nature and kingdom, which Christ came to 
destroy in us ? 

God forbid, beloved, that I should put you upon vain 
and scrupulous inquiries, or suggest vain and ground- 
less alarm— but God forbid also, that you should not 
be alarmed where there is just cause, and that you 
should not be directed to those inquiries which are ne- 
cessary to lead you to a right knowledge of yourselves, 
and of the world in which you live. For surely, it is 
only hj alarm proportioned to its cause, and hj some 
such questions as the above, seriously proposed, and 
as seriously answered, that we can come to know ei- 
ther the state of the world about us, or our own state \ 
consequently that Vv^e can determine how far at this 
day we~ are, or are not, acting the part of the unfaith- 
ful husbandmen of old, of whom it is written, that 
when the Householder sent his Son to them, they 
caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew 
him. 

Let us not shrink then from these salutary inquiries, 
which have a tendency thus to open our eyes to a just 
knowledge both of ourselves, and of our fellow-men. 
It may be, the investigation will bring many things to 
our view, which are not as they ought to be, and which 
therefore will not be pleasant to see manifested. We 
shall discover possibly that the Christian world is not 



184 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

altogether so Christian as the name implies. We shall 
find in it much evil and enormity, contrary to the holy 
spirit and temper of him, whom it professes to follow 
and serve. We shall perhaps make the same discove- 
ry respecting ourselves — we shall see, to our surprise, 
that the religion of Jesus Christ has never yet had its 
full effect upon us ; that there is a life still in ourselves 
contrary to the life of the Son of God, whose disciples 
we call ourselves. We shall thus learn that it is po9^ 
sible at least, that the Son of the Householder may at 
this day be caught^ cast out of the vineyard, and slain^ 
as he was by the unfaithful husbandmen of former 
times. 

Bat shall we on this account suspend such salutary 
inquiry, because it may discover evil to us, which we 
before were not aware of? Surely this is a poor rea- 
son for our neglecting the use of our eyes and senses. 
For if the evil really exists, it is certainly better and 
safer that it should be known, than that it should lie 
concealed. If it be known, it may then be avoided, 
and we may be upon our guard against its infection 
and its poison : but if it be not known, it may destroy 
us before we are aware of it. 

Let us then, if we wish not to be numbered amongst 
the unfaithful husbandmen, and to contract the terrible 
guilt of casting out and slaying the Son of the great 
Householder, offer up our most fervent prayers to that 
Son, that he would give us the spirit of judgment and 
understanding to discern aright both the state of the 
world about us, and the state also of our own hearts ] 



householder's son sent 



185 



that so, seeing the danger to which we are exposed, 
when we are least aware of it, of crucifying the Son of 
God afresh, we may be led to shun this most tremen- 
dous of all human evils ; and thus, cherishing the holy 
and blessed spirit of that Son in our affections and lives^ 
may attain to all the holiness and happiness of which 
the great Householder spake, when he said, ^' They 
will reverence my Son." AMEN. 



R£ 



ON 

^^EIZING THE SON'S INHERITANCE -, 



DENIAL THAT ALL HEAVENLY LIFE AND POWER 
IS RECEIVED FROM GOD, AND IS THEREFORB 
HIS PROPERTY. 



SERMON XIX- 



Matt. xxi. 38. 



But when the husbandmen saw the Son, they said 
among themselves, This is the heir ; come, let 
us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance* 



We have already, in the preceding discourse, con- 
sidered the conduct of these wicked husbandmen, in 
their rejection and destruction of the Son^ who was 
sent unto them by the good Householder. 

But there is yet another circumstance of their atro- 
cious conduct,' which well deserves our most serious 
consideration, and which is expressed in these latter 
words of the text, Let us seize on his inheritance. 



188 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

There are perhaps few persons, who have given this 
circumstance due attention ; few, who have consider- 
ed arij^ht either what is meant by the Son's inheritance 
here spoken of, or by the husbandmen's seizing up- 
on it. 

We^are all of us, in a greater or less degree, too apt 
to read the sacred Scriptures carelessly. We catch at 
the sight and sound of the words, and are content, 
without thinking of the sense which they involve ; with- 
out reflecting, that every expression of the Word of 
God is divine, and must therefore needs contain in it a 
divine meaning. ^ 

How often, for instance, have we all of us read and 
heard these words of my text, spoken by the wicked 
husbandmen, *' Let us seize on his inheritance 1" But 
have we all of us been led as often to consider with 
ourselves what these Words imply ? Have we disco- 
vered their instructive and divine meaning ? Have we 
dived into the cfcqj, to fetch up the pearls oi wisdom 
there concealed ? or have we been satisfied with the 
straws which float on the surface ? 

Perhaps we cannot all of us give a satisfactory an- 
swer to these questions.' There is, then, the greater 
need o( present attention, whilst we enter upon a more 
particular consideration of the subject under these tWQ 
general viesvs. 

First, What the term inheritance^ here applied to the 
property of the Son of the great Householder, involves* 
Secondly, What was the crime of the unfaithful httSr 
handmenj in thinking to seize upon it. 



I 



.Seizing ths inheritance. I8# 



First, then, let us consider what the term inheritance^ 
as applied to the property of the Son of the great 
Householder, involves. 

There is much mention made of inheritance in the 
sacred Scriptures, as applied to God, or, what is the 
.same thing, as applied to the Son of the great House- 
bolder ; and according to such application, the word is 
universally used to denote his people Israel. 

Thus it is written in the book of Kings, speaking of 
the children of Israel, '' They be thy people, and thine 
inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt."* 
And in the book of Psalms, *' Blessed be the nation 
whose God is the Lord, and the people whom he hath 
.chosen for his own inheritance.^^] And again, in the 
prophet, *' Blessed be Egypt, my people ; and Assy- 
ria, the work of my hands ; and Israel, mine inherit 

In the words of my text, the term inheritance is ma- 
oifestly applied in reference to the vineyard, which 
the Householder let out to the husbandmen ; but it has 
already been abundantly shewn, that by the vineyard 
here spoken of, is spiritually signified the Lord's 
church ; and as the Lord's church consists of his peo~ 
pie, therefore inheritance^ in this passage, must needs 
ijrelate to his people also. 

From all this evidence then it is very plain, that the 
term inheritance^ as applied in my text to the pro- 

* 1 Kings viii. 51. 
f Psalm xxxiii. 12. 
% Isaiah zi^. 2%, 



190 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

pertj of the Son of the great Householder, has rela- 
tion to all man's living principles, powers, and lacul- 
ties, whether of mind or of body , whereby he is capa- 
ble of being made a church, or people, of the Lord 
his God. 

Let me bespeak, beloved, your most earnest atten- 
tion to this sense of the word inheritance^ which pos- 
sibly you have never heretofore considered. 

Your own experience and observation will abun- 
dantly teach you, that you possess divers faculties and 
powers, both spiritual and natural, which, taken toge- 
ther in the complex, constitute what you call your life. 
Thus you have the faculty or power of wiliinii^ or 
chousing, of thinking, of determining, and of acting ; 
and this, both in a spiritual and in a natural way. 

In a spiritual way, you can will or choose w'hat is of 
God and eterni'y ; you can think also, as often as yoo 
please, about Go! and eternity ; and you can deter- 
mine and act accordingly: and in a natural way, you 
can will or choose what is of this world, or what re- 
lates to your temporal life here below; and you can 
also think, determine, and act, In reference to this your 
tempt)ral life and habitation. Under this article of 
natural powers, may also be reckoned your time and 
jour fortunes ; for these also, like your talents, make a 
part Oi what you commonly call yourselves. 

Nothing can be more wonderful and astonishing than 
these powers and faculties which you enjoy, in com- 
mon vith the res* o mankind; and the due conside- 
ra^on of them must ne^ds lead every thinking person 



StllWQ THE INHERITANCE, 191 

to exclaim, with the inspired penman, " I am fearfully 
and wonderfully made."* 

But there is one circumstance relating to these pow- 
ers and faculties, which is not in general so much at- 
tended to, as the powers and faculties themselves : I 
mean, who is the proprietor of them? or, to whom do 
they properly belong? and yet this is certainly a point 
of the utmost importance to be determined. 

The careless and unthinking mind, grounding its 
judgment in mere appearances, says, My powers and 
faculties are my own^ and no one has any property in 
them but myself. Is not my life my own? Is not 
my (oriune my own ? Is not my time also my own? 
Do not I will, do not I think and act by and from my- 
self 07ily? Who then has any right or property in 
these things but myself? 

But what saith the judgment of the eternal wisdom? 
Let us hearken to its voice, and no longer be deluded 
■hy appearances and folly. 

'' Know ye that the Lord he is God ; it is he that 
hath made us, and not w^e ourselves ; we are his peo- 
ple, and the sheep of his pasture."! 

And we are then the workmanship and the people 
of God ? Surely in this case all our powers and facul- 
ties are God's also, and he must ever remain the sole 
proprietor of them. He hath indeed given them to us 
for wse and for our Wm, but still Ihey must remain 

* psalm cxxxix. 14. 
f Psalm c. 3. 



192 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

for ever his, and are only ours from him. We can no 
more will, or think, or act, by a power properly our 
own, than we can raise ourselves from the dead ; and 
therefore every time that we exercise a single faculty, 
whether of mind or of body, whether in regard to our 
time or our fortunes, we exercise only a gift which we 
receive from him, who, to impress deeper on our 
minds this lesson of eternal wisdom, hath said, ** With- 
out me ye can do nothing."* 

Having thus, then, endeavoured to shew what we are 
to understand by the inheritance spoken of in my textj. 
it will now plainly appear in the second place, what 
was the crime of the unfaithful husbandmen, in think- 
ing to seize on this inheritance. 

The word in the original, which is here rendered 
seize upon, denotes to withhold, or keep back by vio- 
lence ; and the idea manifestly suggested is this, that 
the wicked husbandmen began to persuade themselves, 
that their life, with all its various powers and facul- 
ties, yv3.s their own, independent of God, and that 
therefore they were no longer bound to acknowledge 
God as the source of their life, with its faculties and 
powers. 

Thus they kept hack or withheld this inheritance 
from God, instead o( restoring and returning it to him, 
as in justice they were obliged to do. Like that un- 
wise king of old, whom the^ Lord rebukes by the pro- 
phet, they said, " My river is mine own, and I have 

^ John sv. Sl. 



SEIZING THE INHERITANCE. 193 

aiade it for myself."* They continued therefore to 
hare life, and to exercise the faculties of life ; but then 
they separated God from that life, and from those fa- 
culties: when they looked into themselves, they saw 
and acknowledged nothing but themselves, nothing 
that was superior to, or above themselves, from whence 
they themselves existed and subsisted : they did not 
see and acknowledge the life of God in themselves : 
they did not consider, that all that was called their 
own life, was only a derived life, a life which they re- 
ceived continually from God : the consequence was, 
that withholding this inheritance from God, they ban- 
ished at the same time God and his life, with all the 
blessing, virtue, wisdom, and sanctities thereof, from 
themselves ; or, as it is expressed in the verse immedi- 
ately succeeding my text, they caught the right heir 
of the inheritance, and *^ cast him out of the vineyardj 
and slew him." 

Behold here, beloved^ and tremble at the crime and 
folly of these unhappy husbandmen, who were wicked 
and weak enough to suppose that their life was their 
own, and not God's ; and who, in consequence of this 
wild imagination, no longer acknowledging God and 
his life in themselves, separated their own life and 
all the faculties thereof from the influence, govern- 
ment, guidance, and presence of that divine Being, in 
whom alone it originated, and by whom alone H 
could be made blessed. 

* Ezek. xxix. 3, 

S 



J 94 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

But whilst we see and tremble at the crime and fol- 
}y of these unhappy husbandmen, let us take heed 
that the same be not chargeable upon ourselves. 

We are all of us exposed to the danger of being dc* 
luded by the same foolish and pernicious imagination. 
We all of us receive life, with its innumerable powers 
and faculties, continually from God ; and if we are 
not well upon our guard, we shall be tempted to as- 
cribe them to ourselves, and not to God, and thus seize 
upon God's inheritance. There is a secret, but most 
infernal principle of self-love, lurking in everyone of 
us, which will not fail to be frequently suggesting to 
us, that our river is uur own^ that our talents are our 
own, that our fortunes are our own. that our time is owr 
own, in short, that every thing we possess is our own^ 
and not God's, and that it is of no great consequence 
whether we call it God's or our own. 

But, beloved, let me most earnestly warn you against 
the fatal tendencies of such a false and dangerous per- 
suasion. Believe it therefore to be the persuasion of 
none but of those wicked husbandmen, who say 
amongst themselves, " This is the heir, come, let us 
kill him, and let us seize upon his inheritance. Be- 
lieve it therefore to be a persuasion directly opposite 
to all the wisdom of God, and tending to destroy in 
your minds the all of religion, the all of holiness, the 
all of happiness, because the all of the real sense and 
acknowledgment of God. P'or what sense or ac- 
knowledgmtnt can you have of God, unless you are 
j«ensible of, and acknowledge him in ^'ouriselves, as 



SE12ING THE INHERITANCE. 195 

the continual source of your life and all your faculties? 
To say you acknowledge God, and yet to separate 
him from yourselves, by not ascribing to him your 
life, your talents, your fortunes, your time, and what- 
ever else inakes a part of yourselves — what is this but 
acknawledging God with your lips, and denying him 
in your hearts ? What is it, but being Christians in 
theory, and atheists in practice ? 

Beware then, beloved, of such flagrant, such mis- 
chievous inconsistency ; and i{ you wish effectually to 
avoid the crime and folly of the wicked husbandmen 
in the parable, who thought to seize upon their Lord's 
inheritance, let me recommend to your most serious 
attention and observance these (ew practical lessons. 

Learn to confess and acknowledge the great and 
glorious God continually in yourselves, as the eternal, 
never-failing source of your life and all its faculties. 
Look no longer at a God who is only without you, but 
look at a God who is also within you. Remove not 
your heavenly Father at a distance from you, by re- 
garding him as unconnected with your life ; but bring 
him near to you, and make him ever present with 
you, by believing in him as the continual source of 
your life and of your every faculty. Consider your 
life thus as a derived life, and therefore not your own^ 
so "much as God's ; and consider also your talents, 
your fortunes, your time, and every thing else, as 
things belonging properly to God, and only commit- 
ted to you for use. Learn thus practically to ascribe 
all you have unto the divine Giver ; render unto God 



12Q THE HOUSEHdLSER. 

the things that are God's, and be afraid of keeping acy 
thing back from him, remembering the crime of the 
wicked husbandmen, and also the like crime of Ana- 
nias and Sapphira of old, of whom it is written, that 
they kept back part of the price.^ Lastly, as an en- 
couragement to you to attend to and observe ^hese 
precepts, never forget, that they constitute the whole 
of vital religion and of all true blessedness ; inasmuch 
as the whole of vital religion consists in the above 
real acknowledgment of God, without which no vital 
religion can exist ; and as to true blessedness, how 
can any inheritance be blessed, if God is not in it ? 
What is your life, what are your best faculties, what 
are your most splendid talents and fortunes, but so ma- 
ay sources of misery to you, if you separate God and 
his life from them ? To make these things real bles- 
sings, you must join God to them, and you cannot join 
God to them, but so far as you ascribe them unto 
God ; and consider them as his property more than 
ijour ozvn. Learn once to do this, and you will then 
taste true blessedness ; for then the blessing of God. 
will be in all that you possess, and being made sensible 
of this blessing, your chief and only concern will be 
to add unto it, by learning more and more to sing that 
heavenly song, *' Thou art worthy, O Lord", to receive 
glory, and honour, and power^ for thou hast created 
all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and were 
created,'^ AMEN. 

* Acts V. 2, 3. 
fRev. iv. U. 



0?r THE 

FATE OF THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN ^ 

OR 

MAN'S DESTRUCTION IN APPEARANCE FROM GOD, 
BUT IN REALITY FROM HIMSELF, ' 



SERMON XX, 



Matt. xxi. 40, 4L 

When the Lord therefore of the vineyard Cometh^ 
what will he do unto those husbandmen ? 

They say unto him^ He will miserably destroy 
those wicked men^ and will let out the vineyard 
unto other husbandmen^ who will render him 
the fruits in their seasons* 



1 HESE are the concluding words of that parable 
concerning the householder and his vineyard, which 
has been the subject of the foregoing discourses. 

They contain an inquiry of singular importance to 
all serious minds, viz. '" What will he do unto those 
husbandmen ? or, in other words, what will be the con^ 
S 2 



19B THE HOUSEIIdLDER* 

sequence of a mispent life ? What will be tbe effect^ 
and the fruit, of acting the part of wicked and unfaith- 
ful husbandmen, who reject the counsels of God ? 
What will the e:id be with all those, who are so blind- 
ed by the pleasures of sin and folly, of this world and 
the flesh, as to neglect the great and awful concerns of 
eternity ? 

Important and edifying as this inquiry may be, it re- 
ceives a full answer in the succeeding words of the 
text, " They say unto him. He will miserably destroy 
those wicked men, and will let out the vineyard unto 
other husbandmen, who w^ill render him the fruits in 
their seasons. 

May I bespeak your present most serious attention to 
this instructive and momentous answer ! 

It is very remarkable, that the Lord here asks the 
question, " When the Lord therefore of the vineyard 
cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen ?" 
but he doth not give the answer. The answer is given 
hy those around him, " They say unto him, He will 
miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out 
the vineyard unto other husbandmen, &c. 

It must be obvious to every thinking mind, that some 
great secret or mystery of wisdom is involved in this 
circumstance ; otherwise it will be difficult to assign a 
reason, why the Lord himself should not pronounce de- 
struction to the wicked, rather than leave it to be pro- 
nounced by others. 

Permit me to point out to you what this great secret 
or mistery of wisdom is, which is herein involved. 



FATE OP THE H0SBANDMSIC% 199 

It appears to be this — The destruction of wicked 
husbandmen doth not come at all from the Lord of the 
vineyard, but solely from themselves, being the cer- 
tain consequence and sure effect of their own wicked- 
ness. Nevertheless, though their destruction doth not 
ill reality come from the Lord, yet in appearance to 
themselves it comes solely from him, and they cannot 
help but charge him as the alone cause of it. 

Behold here then the true reason, why the Lord aske 
the question concerning the lot of wicked husbandmen^ 
but leaves it to others to give the answer! 

He asks the question, because it is a question of in» 
finite moment, comprehending in it the weightiest con- 
cerns of man, and therefore such a question as all ought 
to be prepared to answer, inasmuch as there is nothing 
wanting but a proper answer to this question, to rrake 
every one live according to those maxims of eternal 
wisdom, which will make him wise unto salvation. 

But he leaves it to others to give the answer to this 
question, for this plain and eternal reason, because 
they were sure to answer it according to the appear- 
ances presented in their own minds, and it was better, 
in respect to the bulk of mankind, for whose use and 
instruction the question was asked, that it should be 
answered according to appearance, than according to 
the reality, 

I will endeavour to explain this matter, so as to 
make it easy of apprehension, and at the same time to 
bring home to, and impress on your minds ail that 
lesson of deep and instructive wisdom, which it in- 
volves. 



200 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

Every attentive reader of the word of God must 
needs see, and be forced to confess, that God cannot 
be the author of destruction, inasmuch as he is ever re- 
presented, in bis own holy word, to be the purest good- 
ness, the most essential mercy, the creator, and the pre- 
server of what he creates ; which characters are ut- 
terly inconsistent with the idea of his destroying^ or 
causing destruction to any creature. 

Every attentive reader therefore of the word of God 
must needs see, and be forced to confess, that whenso- 
ever mention is made of the destruction of man, that 
very destruction implies that man is the cause of it ; or, 
in other words, that man destroys himself, and his de* 
struction cannot be chargeable on any but himself. 

But this will more plainly appear if we consider the 
nature of man's destruction, as it is represented to us 
in the word of God. 

Whensoever that holy book speaks o( msin^s destruc- ' 
tion, it always speaks of it in reference to his spiritual 
part, or his immortal soul, inasmuch as this part con- 
stitutes properly the whole of man ; and the body, or 
corporeal part, is comparatively as nothing. 

But in what doth the destruction of man's soul, or 
spirit, consist ? How is this destruction effected ? And 
what is its immediate cause ? 

Let us hearken to the same eternal source of truth 
and instruction. ** If a man," saith the blessed Jesus, 
^* abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is 



i'ATE OF THi; HUSBANDMENw 201 

withered ; and men gather them, and cast thfem inte 
the fire, and they are burned.*' 

Behold here both the nature of man's destruction^ 
and also the cause of it ! It consists solelj in man's 
separation from the great Redeemer, by not abiding 
m him, and in the life and order which proceed from 
him ; and it is of consequence caused by man's abuse 
of the freedom which God has given him, in that he 
turns his heart and affections/romGod, instead of turn- 
ing them towards God ; and thus takes up his abod© 
out of God, instead of taking up his abode in God. 

For as there is but one life or salvation for man, and 
as this one life or salvation consists in man's joining 
himself with God, by returning or re-entering with his 
will and affections into the life and order of God, ac- 
cording to those words of the great Saviour, ** Abide Ir 
me, and I in you :" so there is but one death or de- 
struction also for man ; and this death or destruction 
consists, and must needs consist, in this one single cir- 
cumstance alone, that man doth not return or re-enter 
into the blessed life and order of God, and thereby 
abide in the great Redeemer, as he was intended to 
do ; in which case, he must certainly cast himself into 
the regions of disorder ; and where disorder is, there 
God cannot be ; and where God cannot be, there nei- 
ther can life or salvation be, and, of course, there must 
death and destruction be, with all their attendant mi- 
series. 

Behold here, then, the eternal reason why God can- 
not possibly, in any sense of the word, be the author 



i 



S02 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

of man's destruction, and why man's destruction must 
needs in all cases be iiiputed to man himself. 

For who cannot see, that God, in his infinite mercy, 
is ever, and ever must be, desirous to bless and save 
eternally all his creatures ? Who cannot see, that with 
this view, and for this blessed purpose, he is ever stri- 
ving to turn and draw all men to liimself, i\\2ii tkey may 
nhide in him^ and he in ihem^ for everlasting blessing 
and salvation ? Vv ho therefore cannot see further, if 
he he so disposed, that no man can be destroyed pos- 
sibly, but by his own fault ; or, in other words, by his 
abusing his free-will, in not complying with the inten- 
tions and operatiuHo of GoJ. ; in not drawing nigh unt« 
God in his own mind, and abiding with him in the life 
and order which he halh established ? ^ 

Nevertheless, though man's destruction thus cometh 
from himself, and not from God, yet it will of neces- 
sity appear to the destroyed man as if it came from 
God, and not from himself. This is the sure conse- 
quence of that evil, which leads man to destruction. 
For all evil is blind, and judges in all cases from ap- 
pearances, and not according to truth and reality ; and 
the appearance to an evil man must needs be, that God 
destroys him, in like manner as it appears to him, that 
God is angry and wroth with him ; though in God 
there is no more of anger and wrath, than there is of 
destruction. 

This then is the reason, why, in the Word of God, 
destruction is sometimes imputed to him, as well as 
wrath and anger. For the Word of God, in its letter. 



FATE OF THE HUSBANDMEN. 203 

is written according to the appearances in which man 
is ; inasmuch as, if it was not so written, man could not 
comprehend it, and therefore it would be of no use 
to him. Nevertheless, it is the part of true wisdom 
to draw aside the veil of those appearances, which co- 
ver the sacred realities of the eternal truth, and thus 
to enter into the bright light of the sanctuary, agreea- 
ble to those words of the Redeemer, '' Judge not ac- 
cording to appearance, but judge righteous judgment." 
To conclude. Doth man^s destruction, then, come 
from himself alone ? Doth it consist in his separating 
bis will and affections from God ? Is the seed of de- 
struction, therefore, contained in every perverted love, 
in every false desire, in every wrong inclination of the 
heart, which doth not originate in God, and tend to- 
wards God ? What consideration can so forcibly press 
upon us the great necessity of attending continually to 
the hidden tendencies and workings of our own minds ? 
The very idea, that it is possible for us to destroy our- 
selves, is of so awful and alarming a nature, that none 
but the most thoughtless and abandoned can surely be 
unaffected by it. And if self-destruction consists in liv- 
ing separate from God in heart and thought, what wise 
man will not be at the pains at least to ask himself, 
whether he be living or not in such a state of separa- 
tion ? If there be destruction^ a^ain, in attachments 
to perishable objects, in perverted and misplaced af- 
fections, in ways of life that are not agreeable to the 
life and order of God, ann •r^n in (what some peo- 
ple, alas ! think safe and innocent) a trilling and vain 



^^ 



204 THE HOUSEHOLDER. 

conversation, an indeterminate and unthinking care- 
lessness about the things of God ; what wise man will 
not then inquire diligently, whether he is at any time 
wandering from God in such attachments, such aflfec- 
tions, and such ways of life ? In short, if all destruc- 
lion be nothing else but the disorder of our minds and 
lives, whilst we depart from God ; and if all salvation 
be nothing else but a restoration of heavenly order in 
our minds, whilst we return to God, and abide in him ; 
what thinking person will not then be led in all ear- 
nestness to guard against every possible disorder of 
mind and life, and to cherish and cultivate every prin- 
ciple of heaven and of order ? Who will not then 
pray continually, with the holy man of old, ♦' Wash 
me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me 
from my sin. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and 
renew a right spirit within mc ?" AMEN. 



MARKS AND CHARACTERS 

OP 

A TRUE FAITH. 

IN SIX SERMONS. 



SERMON XXL 



St. Mark, xvL ir, 18, 

Jind these Signs shall follozo them that believe ; 
in my name shall they cast out Devils ; they 
shall speak with new tongues ; they shall take 
up serpents ; and if they drink any deadly 
thing J it shall not hurt them; they shall lay 
hands on the sick^ and they shall recover^ 



It was sound and sober advice of the Apostle to his 
Corinthian brethren, ^' Examine yourselves whether 
ye be in the faith ; prove your own selves."* Every 
€incere Christian, who is in real earnest about his 
Salvation, will find himself frequently led to folloT^ 

* 2 Cor. xii. 5 , 
T 



206 ON TRUE FAITH. 

this advice. He will consider well whether he be a 
true believer, or not ; he will know and perceive that 
tliere is the greatest danger of being mistaken in this 
matter; he will search out therefore all the marks, 
signs, and characters of a real faith ; he will examine 
himself attentively by these marks, signs, and charac- 
ters ; thus he will endeavour to prove himself, whether 
he be a real, or only pretended disciple of Jesus 
Christ; for he will be taught, that at this day there 
are Christians so called of both these descriptions ; and 
that it is no easy matter to distinguish between the one 
and the other: being impelled, however, with the most 
ardent desire to avoid all delusion in a matter of such 
infinite importance, and to be found in the number of 
the faithful and toie servants of God, be will never 
rest till he hath separated between the true and the 
false^ the real and the pretended, the sincere and the 
hypocritical, and thus come to a foundation of solid 
comfort in his own mind, by being established in a 
true gospel faith. 

I trust; beloved, that in the number of those to whom 
I am now addressing myself, there are many who 
have been led to the above serious examination, and 
this from an earnest concern about their eternal peace. 
It is for the sake of such, thai I have now chosen the 
words of my text, for the subject of our consideration, 
inasmuch as they contain a declaration, from the 
mouth of truth itself, of. the indisputable marks, signs, 
an ' ( haracters of a true faith. Every one, therefore, 
hath here a sure and certain standard whereby to ex- 



ON TRUE FAITH. 20"? 

amine himself; and every one, who will examine him- 
self sincerely, maj discover of a certainty whether 
he be a believer or not; whether he hath real faith, or 
hath only the name and appearance thereof. 

'' These signs shall follow them that believe ; in my 
name shall they cast out devils ; they shall speak with 
new tongues ; they shall take up serpents; and if they 
drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they 
shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.'' 

But methinks I hear the carnal mind object — What ! 
Is this the only mark and sign of true faith, to Jo all 
these miracles? Is it not possible to be a believer 
without working such wondrous works ? The Apos- 
tles and first Christians had indeed this power, in and 
through the name of Jesus Christ, but was this power 
intended to be given unto Christians in all ages.^ 
Shall we at this day think of *' casting out devils, of 
speaking with new tongues, of takirig up serpents, of not 
being hurt by drinking deadly things, of restoring the 
sick to health and life?" Surely these signs of a true 
faith are not now to be looked for; they were intend- 
ed only for the infant church of Christ ; we have no- 
thing to do with them, and our faith may still be true 
and saving, though it is not distinguished by any of 
the above characters. ^ 

I am well aware that such objections have been 
raised, and are still raised, against the signs of a true 
faith, pointed out in my text, as applied to Christians 
in later ages, and therefore before we proceed to con- 



r20S ON TRUE PAITH. 

sider the nature of those signs, it may be expedient to 
say somewhat in answer to the above objections. 

And first. Every serious considerate person will 
find a full and satisfactory answer to the above objec- 
tions, in the decisive and peremptory manner in 
which our Lord expresses himself on the occasion. 
** These signs (says he) shall follow them that be- 
lieve." Observe } in these words of our Lord there 
is no limitation of time or persons; he does not say, 
these signs shall follow my first disciples, those that 
first believe in my name ; he does not say they shall 
be confined to the Apostles, or to the early ages of 
Christianity; but he says in general, " These signs 
shall follow them that believe ;" by which is certainly 
implied, them that believe in all ages, in all times and 
places ; for surely, if he had not meant this, he would 
have said so; he would have fixed a time when these 
signs should have ceased; he would have declared ex-^ 
pressly, These signs shall follow the faith of such and 
such persons, during such and such a time, but then 
my followers are no longer to look for, or to expect 
them ; then these signs shall cease. Our Lord, how- 
ever, has fixed no such time ; he has not confined these 
signs of a true belief to any particular set of persons, 
and therefore we must be forced to conclude, that he 
intended them to remain as everlasting signs and tests 
of faith, unto the remotest ages of his church. 

But secondly — In the above objections it is urged, 
if these are to be considered as the signs oi a true taitc^ 



ON TRUE FAITH. 209 

then every believer in Jesus Christ must be endued 
with the power of w^orking miracles, and this surely 
the Lord could never intend to be any mark or charac- 
ter of a true faith* 

To this I answer — -If our faith be not a faith capable 
of working miracles^ it is then no faith at all ; it hath 
nothing at all divine in it ; it is merely human, from 
ourselves, and not from God. Hereby therefore we 
m y know and try our faith of what sort it is, whether 
it be from above or frorp beneath, from heaven or from 
ourselves. If it be from beneath, or from ourselves^ 
it will have no miraculous virtue in it ; but if it be from , 
above, or, from heaven, that is, from the Lord of hea- 
ven ; if it be a faith in and from the name of Jesus 
Christ, it will then assuredly be a miracle-working 
faith ; it will do many wonderful works, and this as 
sure as there is truth in these words of the Lord, *' He 
that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do 
also, and greater works than these shall he do, because 
I go unto my Father.'"'^ 

But it will be asked, what are these miracles ? what 
are these greater works, which must be the fruits of a 
true faith in and from the Lord Jesus Christ ? 

The question is of unspeakable importance to every 
Christian. The answer to it is short, but if well at- 
tended to, will be found most edifying. 

Miracles and wondrous works are considered in 
general only in relation to what is bodily or material, 

* John xiv. 12. 
T 2 



210 ON TRUE FAITH. 

and through a superficial attention, or rather indo- 
lent inattention to the true sense and meanicig of 
what is miraculous, we are accustomed never to 
pronounce any thing a miracle^ but when we observe 
some extraordinary change wrought in the bodies of 
men, or in the world of Jiuitter, 

Thus we should think it a great miracle to see a 
%g^ blind man made to see, a lame man to walk, a deaf 
"man to hear, a dumb man to speak, a dead man t9 
live ; or to see a mountain raised from its foundation 
and cast into the sea, or to see the sea itself divided 
*' and the waters thereof standing on an heap," as was 
the case when the Israelites went through the Red Sea 
on dry ground. 

These, I say, we call great miracles and wondrous 
works ; and indeed so they are, and bear indisputable 
testimony to a divine supernatural power, without 
which they never could be wrought. 

Let it, however, be well remembered, without any 
disparagement to these miracles wrought upon the bo- 
dies of men, and upon the outward material world, 
that there are also miracles, or wondrous works of an- 
other sort, viz. such as are wrought upon the spirits of 
men, and take place in what may be called man's spi- 
ritual world. 

As for example — if it be a great miracle that a man 
blind as to his bodily sight is made to see, it is surely 
a miracle equally great, that a man blind as to his 
spiritual sight is made to see ; the same is true of 
the lame, the deaf, the dumb, the dead 5 the miracle 



ON TRUE FAITH, 211 

is equally great, whether performed upon those who 
fall under this description as to their spirits, or as to 
their bodies. So in respect to removing mountains ^ 
and dividing the waters of the deep ; it is full as great 
a miracle and as wondrous a work, and as sure a 
proof of Omnipotence, to remove in man's heart the 
mow?itom5* of pride, of vanity, of self-love, and the 
love of the world ; and to divide in him the waters of 
spiritual trouble, affliction, and temptation :] These I 
say are full as great and signal miracles as when done in 
a natural way, and are as sure indisputable sigas of 
the power of God, without which it is not possible 
they should be effected. 

From this view then of the real and true nature of 
Bfiiracles, it will appear plain to every considerate 
person, that all true faith, as being a divine gift, and 
attended therefore with a divine power, must needs be 
endued with a miracle-working virtue, and that, if it 
had not such a virtue in it, it could not be any blessing, 
or convey any real good unto the soul of man. inas- 
much as nothing can be a blessing, or convey good to 
man, but what helps him to a change of nature, giving 
him new eyes, new ears, a new tongue, new feet, a 
new life, which cannot possibly be effected but by a 
supernatural and consequently miracle-working power 
from above. 

* See Isaiah ii. 14. xli. 15.xlii 15 Jerem. xiii. 16. Ezek, vi. 2, 3, 
xxxviii.3. 20, Micah i 4, vi. 1, 2. Hab. iii. 6, 13, and many others, 

f bee isiiab xliii. 2. Lam. iii. 54. Psalm ixix. 2. cxxiv. 4, -5, and 
other places. 



212 ON TRUE FAITH. 

Let it therefore no longer be imagined, that Chris- 
tians at this day are not to look for a miraculous pow- 
er as the sign and test of a true faith, for if we ha^c 
not this sigji and test, we cannot have a surer proof 
that our faith is not true ; if we have never yet " cast 
out devils ;" if we have never yet " spoke with new 
tongues ;'' if we have never yet escaped " hurt from 
drinking deadly things;" if we have never yet " laid 
hands on the sick, and they have recovered :" If, I 
say, we have never yet experienced the power of 
faith in and from the Lord Jesus Christ, in working 
these miracles in our own hearts and lives, (which are 
the real and most substantia) miracles, and what our 
Lord calls greater works than what he himself did) we 
have then every reason in the world to be convinced 
that we are lacking in the true signs and characters of 
a GosTiel faith. 

I am well aware, that this idea of faith and its ope- 
rations will be charged by some as tending to enchu- 
siivii and faruilicism^ and will be deemed a wild de* 
parture from the soberness of Gospel wisdom. This 
charge is to be expected from all those who have been 
accustomed to regard faith as a mere act of the un- 
derstanding only, assenting to some particular system 
of doctrines and opinions, not as a divine power ope- 
rating from the Fountain of heavenly life and love., 
and tending to' form that life, and bring forth the 
blessed fruits of that love, in all who receive it and 
live accordingly. 



ON TRUfi FAITH. 213 

But a like charge may. with equal reason, be urged 
against a belief in any of the great doctrines of the 
Gospel ; as in the doctrine of the purification, renew* 
al, and regeneration of the human soul ; in the doc- 
trine of the resurrection ; in the doctrine of the opera- 
tion of divine grace on the minds of men ; all which 
imply a divine and heavenly- v. orking power, and at 
the same time some marvellous and miraculous change, 
wrought thereby on the human spirit. 

Let us not, then, be deterred by names^ from ac- 
knowledging and holding fast by the realities of Gos- 
pel truth. 

It may be deemed enthusiasm by some, to believe 
our Bibles, and that the L6rd Jesus Christ is our God 
and Saviour ; but shall we, on that account, reject two 
slich important articles of our faith ? In like man- 
ner, it may be deemed enthusiasm and fanaticism to 
call faith a supernatural power, and to expect from it 
supernatural effects ; but shall we, on this account, de-^ 
grade our faith and its operations into what is merely 
natural and human ? Sound and sober reason surely 
requires, that we should rather labour to form to our- 
selves just notions of the extraordinary and divine ex- 
cellence of this ** gift of God"* to us ; remembering 
well, that we are exposed to far greater mischiefs by 
lessening the high value thereof, than by over-rating 
it ; and that it may tend alike to enthusiasm and fa- 
naticism, to believe too little , as to believe (if such a 
thing can be) too much, 

* Ephes. ii. 8. 



214 ON TRUE FAITH. 

A feith merely natural and speculative, composed 
of opinions and forms of words, and consisting merely ' 
in an assent of the understanding to some particular- 
code oi doctrinal tenets, but void of heavenly life 
and heavenly power, hath too long prevailed in the 
church, to the lamentable extirpation of all solid wis- 
dom, piety, and good life. Many suffer infinite hurt 
by such a fai.th as this, and are betrayed by it into 
the nuist dangerous spirit of Jisurder, enthusiasm, and 
fanaticism, wn'thout suspecting its misciiiefs. For en- 
thusiasm, fanaticism, and every other disorder of the 
mind, ii is well to be noted, take their rise either 
from some mistaken ideas of the nature of God, or 
frora a defect of obedience to. the commandments of 
God. "^^'i^^y are the natural offspring either of a . 
biiad underst'-nding or of a corrupt heart, or of boHi 
united. They can therefore only be remedied and 
removed by a right faith, and a conformity of life 
thereto. 
' Would we then avoid such enthusiasm, fanaticism^ 
and every other disorder of hearc and under&tanJing, 
and ;.ttain to a true sobriety and purity of Gospel wis- 
dom, let us ponder well the heavenly nature and ope- 
rations of a right Gospel faith ; let us be careiui to 
acquire just ideas of its intrinsic and divine excel- 
lence ; let us set no limits to its marveJ'ous and vii -a- 
cu'ous power and efScacy, because no such im t^ are 
warranted in holy Scripture, which declares '' ail tuings 
possible to him that beiieveih."* 
* Mark ix. 23, 



©N TRUE FAITH. 215 

For this happy purpose, let us now proceed to con- 
sider the genuine signs, marks, and characters, of an 
evangelical faith, as the Lord himself hath declared 
them unto us ; first praying most earnestly, and in all 
humility and contrition of heart, according to the spi- 
rit of that prevailing prayer of old, '' Lord, I believe ; 
help thou mine unbelief I"* and also of that of the 
apostles, " Lord, increase our faith."! AMEN. 

* Mark ix. 24. 
f Luke xvii. d. 



ON TRUE FAITH. 



SERMON XXIL 



St, Mark, xvi, 17, 18. 

These Signs shall follozo them that believe ; m my 
NAME shall they cast out Devils / they shall 
speak with new tongues ; they shall take up 
serpents ; and if they drink any deadly things 
it shall not hurt them ; they shall lay hands on 
the sick^ and they shall recover. 



Having shewn in the preceding discourse on these 
words, that they were not inteaded to be confined to 
the early times of the Gospel, but are to be considered 
as an infallible mark and test of true faith amongst 
Christians in all ages and places, without exception, I 
shall now proceed to explain the nature of each parti- 
cular sign here mentioned by our blessed Lord as cha- 
racteristic of the true believer. 

And first. " In my name shall they cast out devils.^ ^ 
i am well aware that many at this day, who cal! 
themselves Christians, will think it strange to hear 6i 
U 



^18 ON TRUE PAITH. 

this sign of a true faith, and will be greatly surprised 
when they are told, that they cannot be real believers, 
unless in *' the name of Jesus Christ they cast out devils." 
This surprise and strangeness however can only be 
©wing, either to their not having considered, or not 
having believed, tlie doctrine of the Word of God re- 
specting devils ; for when once this doctrine is rightly 
received and understood, it wiH then appeal; most plain 
and true, that every true believer in Jesus Christ must 
needs in his najne cast out devils. 

Before then we proceed to a farther explanation of 
the 520^/1 before us, it may be expedient to . consider 
what the holy Scriptures teach us on this subject con- 
cerning devils. 

Now we learn from the oracles of truth, ihsii devils 
are wicked and Ijing spirits, who have their abodes 
in the kingdom of hell and darkness, where they live 
for ever separate from God in unutterable misery. 

We learn further from the same source of truth, that 
these devils, or wicked spirits, are near unto man ; 
that they have power to tempi and assault him ; that 
they have their abode and delight in all man's evil af- 
fections ; that therefore they dwell and unite them- 
seives with all who live in evil ! and that it is their great- 
est satisfaction (if we may call it a satisfaction) to de- 
file and destroy the souls of men by leading them into 
sin, and turning their hearts and understandings from 
God and heaven. 

1 hus our Lord, in the parable of the tares of the 
field, represents the devil as sowing tares amongst the 
ffheat ; " the enemy (saith he) that sowed them is the 



ON TRUE FAITH. 219 

ieviP;'* by tares are here signified all wicked and 
false suggestions in the hearts of men ; by wheat, all 
good, and holy influences of love and truth from Jesus 
Christ. 

Again, in another place, he represents the devil as de- 
priving man of the Word of divine truth whereby he 
should be saved — " then cometh the devil (saith he) 
and taketh the word out of their hearts, lest they should 
believe and be saved. "t The word here is the holy 
truth pf God, which the devil opposeih in man, be- 
cause it is opposite to, and destructive of him, and his 
kingdom. 

To the same purpose St. Peter represents the devil 
" walking about as a roaring lion, seeking w^hom he 
may devour ;"J and St. Paul styles him *' the prince of 
the power of the air, the spirit that worketh in the 
children of disobedience ;"§ and accordingly St. John 
saith, that " whosoever committeth sin is of the 
devil ;"|| and hence come various exhortations and ad- 
monitions, as where it is said, " Neither give place to 
the devil ;"^* and by another apostle, *' resist the 
devii and he will flee from you. "It 

Agreeai}!e to this testimony of holy scripture, our 
church teaches us to pray, that we may be delivered 

* Mat. xiii. 

f Luke, viii. 12. 

\ 1 Pet. V. 8. 

5 Ephes. ii. 2. 

II 1 John, iii. 8. 
** Ephes. iv. 27. 
ft James, ir. 7. 



:^2* OW TRWE PAIIH. 

" fiom the craft and assaults of the devil ;" and i\i 
the office of baptism, when the child is signed with the 
""sign of the cross, it is added, " In token that hereaf- 
ter he shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of 
Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under his ban- 
ner against sin, the world, and the devil." 

From all this weight of evidence then we are plain- 
ly taught, not only who and what devils are, but also 
that there is a nearer communication between thena 
and our hearts, than many of us are apt to imagine, in- 
asmuch as from the above scriptures it is most evident, 
that they have power to assault us with their evil in- 
fluences and false delusive persuasions ; they have 
pov\ er also to destroy us, if we do not watch against 
and resist them ; they have power finally to make us 
their children, by leading us to forget God, and to de- 
light in evil as they themselves do. 

This is a subject, alas ! which in general is little 
considered by many, who still profess to believe in the 
hojy scriptures, and who join in the daily prayers of 
the church against the craft and assatdts of the devil. 

The case is, there is a mighty difference between re- 
ceiving a doctrine, and giving a blind assent to it, on 
the testimony of others, and being convinced of it by 
a testimony in our own hearts, arising from a real and 
thorough persuasion of its truth, as we come to live by 
the practice of it. 

Let nie then, beloved, earnestly recommend to you, 
as a matter of the utmost importance to your eternal 
peace, no longer to receive this doctrine concerning 
devUsy merely on the testimony of others, but to come 



ON TRUE FAITH. 221 

into a practical belief and conviction of it in your 
own hearts and lives. For this purpose let me coun- 
sel you to believe and consider well, that wherever 
evil is, there also the devil is, there also hell is ; for 
whether we speak of evil^ of hell^ or the devil^ it is 
the same thing, inasmuch as it is not possible they 
should ever be separated or put asunder. There can- 
not therefore be mentioned a single bad passion, lust, 
or affection of man's heart, but what is influenced by, 
and in connexion with, the devil, or the spirits of dark- 
ness. Are we proud ? are we covetous ? are we 
wrathful ? are we sensual ? are we impatient ? do we 
hate and despise our neighbours ? do we love our* 
selves better than others? do we love this world and 
the flesh better than God and his righteousness ? are 
we envious, malicious, liars, adulterers, blasphemers, 
or the slaves of any other unchristian affection ? We 
cannot have a surer proof, whilst w^e delight in such 
things, that our hearts are one with our great adversa- 
ry, and that he dwelleth in us, and ruleth us hy the 
spirit of his abominations* 

From this scripture account then of the nature of 
devilsj and of their near communication with man, it 
will appear plain to every considerate person, how 
tlm sign followeth all the believers in Jesus Christ, 
** in my name they shall cast out devils." 

For it is an essential character of true Gospel faith, 
that it wurketh by love ;* and love, we are assured by 
our Lord, consisteth in keeping the commandmetits ;^ 

^ Gakt. V. 6. 
f John xiv. 21. 23, 
U2 



^^2t ON TRUE FAITH. 

and the great law of the coirjmandments is, to depart 
from eviJ ;* and to depart from evil, is to depart from, 
to renounce, and to cast out devils, inasmuch as we 
have just now shewn, evil and the devil are one, and 
therefore if evil be cast out, by renouncing and depart- 
ing from it, the devil must needs be cast out at the 
same time. 

There is indeed what is by some called faith, (but 
it is to be much lamented that it is so called) which is 
not attended with this power of renouncing, rejecting, 
and casting out of evil, that is, the devil ; thus some 
say they have faith, and that they believe in Jesua 
Christ, who yet live in much sin and evil, never ex- 
amining themselves concerning it, much less making 
opposition to it. It is greatly to be feared, there are 
many who call themselves Christians, who yet rest 
content with such a fruitless and dead faith as this ; 
who will name the holy name of Jesus Christ with 
their lips, and yet in their hearts and lives deny him^ 
being lovers of themselves and of the world, despisers 
of others, living in divers vanities and false pleasures,, 
the slaves of evil affections, being proud, covetous, 
wrathful, sensual, impatient, unmerciful, and the like; 
giving hereby a melancholy proof,, that tliey were ne- 
ver yet truly converted unto the living God, the Lord 
Jesus Christ, in their hearts, and that they therefore 
want the sign of a true faith as delivered by Jesus 
Chiist, '' In my name shall they cast out devils." 

But, beloved, permit me to warn you most earnest- 

* Job xxviii. 28. Psalm xxxiv. 13, 14v 



on TRUE PAITH^ 22S 

ly- aarainst the folly, unprofitableness, and dangerous 
tentlencies of such a faith as this. For this purpose 
consider well, and digest thoroughly in your hearts, 
this essential sign and character of a true and saving 
faith, " In my name they shall cast out devils.'" Learn 
to reduce this into practice : believe and be persua- 
ded that devils^ or evil spirits, dwell in every evil, law- 
less, and unsanctified affection and lust : make it ha- 
bitual to you to examine yourselves, and search out in 
your hearts such lusts and affections ; consider every 
desire and thought of your minds, whether it be ac- 
coro'ing to the love of God and your neighbour, or 
contrary thereto ; if it be contrary thereto, then as- 
sure yourselves it is from the devil, and that the spi- 
rits of darkness are therein : here then begin with set- 
ting up the standard of a divine faith ; her^ enlist 
yourselves under the banner of Jesus Christ ; here 
take unto you the whole armour of God ; here approve 
yourselves faitliful soldiers by fighting the good fight of 
faith; for by this will it be clearly seen whether your 
faith is of God and a true faith, or whether it is of 
yourselves only, that is, no faith at ail. 

If it be of yourselves only, it v>^ill leave you the 
slaves and servants of sin and concupiscence, and you 
will attain to no dominion over evil, because you will 
make no resistance thereto ; but if it be of God, that 
is, of Jesus Christ, you will be enabled, through this 
high and holy name, to overcome all evil ; you will 
gain the victory over every selfish, sensual worldly, 
and sinful affection, that is contrary to the pure love 



224 ON TRUE FAITH. 

of the Lord and of your neighbour ; by charity you 
will conquer and cast out all malice and hatred, by 
humility you will cast out pride, by contentedness you 
will cast out covetousness, by meekness wrath, by 
mercy unmercifulness, by the love of God the love of 
yourselves and of this world ; you will thus sit with 
Jesub Christ on his throne ; you will have power and 
dominion from him over all your enemies ; you will 
in short cast out devils^ and be convinced thereby to 
your everlasting comfort, that you are true followers 
of the lamb ; thus through the omnipotent power of 
him who lovetb you, ye will be enabled sooner or la- 
ter to join in this song of the ever blessed, " Now is 
come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our 
God, and the power of his Chri*st, for the accuser of 
our brethren is cast down, which accused them before 
our God day and night."* 

And may the most merciful Lord, the great Creator, 
Redeemer, and Lover of the souls of men, give us all 
grace to examine well our hearts and lives concerning 
iiiis si^n of a true faith, that so we may make no mis^ 
takes in 21 matter of such importance to us^ 

* Rcy, xii. 10 



ON TRUE FAITH. 



SERMON XXIII. 



St. Mark xvi. IT, 1§. 

These Signs shall follow them that believe : in my. 
NAME they shall cast out Devils ; they shall 
speak with new tongues ; they shall take up 
serpents ^ and if they drink any deadly things 
it shall not hurt thein ; they shall lay hands on 
the sick J and they shall recover* 



Having alreadj shewn, in the two preceding dis- 
courses, how the signs of a true faith, here mentioned 
bj our Lord, were intended to be applied to all Chris- 
tians alike in all ages, and what is to be understood by 
the first sign, viz. casting out devils ; I shaii now pro- 
ceed to a consideration of the second sign, as signified 
in these words, " In my name they shall speak with 
new tongues." 

I am well aware that this sign, like the foregoing, is 
considered by the generality of Christians at this day, 
as belonging only to the apostles, and iirst teachers of 
Christianity, who ^loiie, as it 141. cQaimouly supposed^^ 



226 ON TRUE FAITH* 

could cast fmt devils^ and speak with new tongues ; but 
that this sign was intended as a distinguishing charac- 
ter of true faith amongst Christians of all ages, and 
therefore ought to be expected and looked for by all 
flie followers of Jesu3 Christ, as a sure proof and test 
of their being hie followers, will appear plainly from 
these two considerations i 

First, What is here to be understood by a new tongue; 
and 

Secondly, How and why a true faith in Jesus Christ 
must of necessity lead every believer to speak with a 
new tongue. 

First, then, let us inquire what is here to be under- 
stood by a new tono-ue ; and may the blej^-ed Spirit of 
Hi?n who si^nifjeu to us this sign of a troje faith, di- 
rect all our hearts and minds in this inquiry ! 

We find frequent mention made in holy Scripture, 
©f a new hearty which man is said to receive by re- 
generation. 

Few consider aric^ht what is meant by this new heart, 
and yet there is nothing else wanting to make us see 
clei»-ly what is meant by a new tonr^ue. 

For, as the heart of man becomes new^ only by re- 
ceiving and being formed by a new spirit, which is 
the spirit of love and charity from God, even so the 
tongue ^oi man becomes netiJ, by speaking from and 
according to a new spirit. 

Every man's tongue, we well know, speaks from 
soire mward spirt or principle, or other, in his heart, 
according to those words of the Lord, '* Oat of the 



ON TRUE FAITH. 227 

abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh."* If 
this spirit, or principle, then be that o( the old or un» 
regenerate man ; if it be only according to this world 
and the flesh ; if it hath never been brought into sub^ 
jection to the Holy Spirit of God ; the tongue in this 
case must needs be unrenewed, and may properly be 
called an old tongue, just as an unrenewed man is call- 
ed an old man : but if the spirit or principle, from 
which the tongue speaks, be that of the new and re- 
generate man ; if it be under the influence of love and 
charity, righteousness and truth from God ; the tongue 
rn this case must needs be a renewed tongue, and may 
properly be called a new tongue, just as a renewed 
heart is called a new heart » 

Here, then, every enlightened eye will be enabled 
lo see clearly what is meant by a new tongue. A new 
tongue is that which speaks from a new heart, and ac- 
cording to the spirit of a new heart, A new tongue^ 
therefore, is that which speaks from God, and under 
the influence of a divine spirit from God, because a 
new heart is from God, and under the influence of his 
spirit : a new tongue again always speaks the truth, and 
nothing but the truth, because God is truth, and speak- 
ing from God, it must of necessity speak the truth: a 
new tongue again speaks no evil, because evil is contra- 
ry to God, and therefore the tongue which speaks from 
God, cannot possibly speak evil : a new tongue again 
always speaks with a view to edification, because 

* Mark tliu 34, 



2ft •» TRTffe FAITK. 

Speaking from a heart devoted to God and seekins; his 
glory, it must ever be influenced by some good end 
and design in whatever it speaks : finally, a new tongue 
ever speaks the language of love and charity, of sound 
wisdom and discretion ; " No corrupt communication 
proceedeth from it, but that which is good to the use 
of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hear- 
ers ;" it is ever obedient to the spirit of God in the 
heart ; it never speaks but from and according to the 
dictates of that spirit ; the tongue '>f the old man, we 
know, speaks according to and from the spirit of the old 
man, which is his own spirit, and not the Spirit of God ; 
but the tongue of the ruw man, which is the new tongue^ 
speaks from and according to the spirit of the new inan^ 
which is the spirit of love and wisdom from God ; and 
therefore all its speech and language and words and 
discourse are new, partaking of a new spirit and a new 
quality from God. Let it not however here be understood 
^ if the new tongue was always speaking about God 
and holy things ; for if occasion requires, it can speak 
about the things of this world, as well as the tongue of" 
the old man ; but then herein is an essential difference 
between the old tongue and the new tongue ; the old 
tongue speaks about the things of this world from a 
worldly spirit, which is the love of this world ; where- 
as the new tongue, when it speaks about worldly things, 
speaks not in and from a worldly spirit, but from a re- 
newed spirity even that spirit which ovtr€om€th the 
rxorld. 



11 



ON TRUB FAri:H. 539 

Having thus then considered what we are' to under* 
Stand by a new tongue, I shall now proceed to shew, 
secondly, how and why a true faith in Jesus Christ 
must of necessity lead every true believer ^o speakwith 
a new tongue. 

It has been already shewn, in a former discourse^ 
■feow a true faith operates to casting out devils, that is, 
to the removing from the heart and life of man all those 
€vi!s which are contrary to love and charity, by lead- 
ing men to renounce and reject such evils, 

A true faith then must of consequence lead every 
sincere believer to speak with a new tongue, inasmuch 
as whoever sincerely renounces evil in his heart, be- 
cause it is contrary to God and his neighbour, he re- 
ceiveth a new heart, from God : and who oever hath 
a new heart, as we hav€ just now seen, he must of ne° 
-eessity speak with a new tongue. 

Let me entreat, beloved, with all possible earnest- 
ness, your most serious attention to this consideration. 

The . slightest knowledge of the gospel may serve 
to convince you, that you cannot be true believers un- 
less you are renewed in the spirit of your hearu ; and 
that you cannot be renewed in the spirit of your hearts, 
jonly so far as you search out and examine those evils 
in your hearts, which are contrary to the love of God 
and of your neighbour, and having discovered them^ 
are sincere in renouncing them. 

In such case, the Lord will -create in you a new 
heart, and a new tongue will then follow of course ; you 
will speak a new speech, a new language, new words, 
X 



230 ON TRUE FAITH. 

and new discourse ; because you will ever speak from 
a new heart, that is, from a new spirit in your heart. 

Bf'hold here and adore the gracious designs of Je- 
gus Christ and his gospel towards man ! » 

Man's tongue, as well as his heart, is, in his fallen 
or natural state, exceedingly corrupt, inasmuch as it 
partakes of the corruptions of his heart : in the lan- 
guage of the Apostle, it is set on fire of hell ;* it is the 
servant of sin, of vanity, and concupiscence ; it is thus 
at ennn'ty with God and his righteousness, and it 
is frequently the unhappy cause of separating man 
furtlier from heaven : but no sooner does the spirit of 
Jesus Christ and his gospel enter the heart of the true 
believer, than it exerts its blessed influence immedia- 
tely on the tongue also ; as it creates in man a new 
heart, so it helps him to speak a new language ; all his 
words are then words of love, of charity, of peace and 
righteousness ; his tongue is no longer set onjire ofhell^ 
but it is under the influence of the holy Spirit of God ; ; 
thus the enmity between God and the tongue is de- 
stroyed, and man with his mouth glorifies God, edifies 
his r)eigiib()ur, and advances his own salvation. 

Speech, language, or discourse, was intended as 
one ot' the noblest privileges of our natures ; as that 
which distinguishes us in a particular manner from the 
brutes ; it was designed to be a source of most delight- 
ful satisiactions ; we are hereby enabled to conamuni- 



* St. James iii. 6. 



ON TRUE FAITH. 231 

cate our thoughts one to another for mutual entertain- 
ment and edification. 

But let it well be remembered, that this privilege 
of our natures, so distinguishing and so important, maj 
become a curse to us, as well as a blessing, if we are 
not careful to use it aright. 

Our Lord hath intimated this to us in these most aw* 
ful words, '* By t-hy words thou shalt be justified, and 
by thy words thou shall be condemned."* Oh 1 terri- 
ble declaration to ail those who are careless about their 
words, from what ground and from what spirit they 
proceed ! But oh! blessed and comfortable declaration 
to all those who are careful to examine well the spring 
and fountain of their speech, that so it may be brought 
under obedience to the Spirit of Jesus I 

'* By thy words thou shalt be justified." It is the 
blessed privilege of the true believer, that he can thu« 
speak words which justify, inasmuch as putting away 
all evil from his heart and life, he speaketh with a 
new tongue from a new heart, that is, from God ; all 
his words therefore are words which justify him, that 
is, which tend to purify and make him more righteous 
in the sight of God ; inasmuch as they come from 
God, and they lead him to God ; they speak the glory 
of God ; they are edifying to others ; they are a source 
of infinite delight to himself; for having respect to God 
and the good of his neighbour in them, he finds in all 
his words an unction of heavenly peace and comfort to 
his own mind. 

*" Malt. xii. 37. \ 



232 ON tRDE FAITH. 

But it is othenvise with those Who do not well ex- 
amine and consider from what source or fountain their 
words proceed ; of such it is awfully true, " By thy 
words thou shalt be condemned," inasmuch as speak- 
ing only from themselves and their own spirit, all their 
words, even though they be good and holy words, 
partake of the evil unregenerate spirit of their hearts, 
and thus separate them further from the purity and 
peace of the holy Spirit of God. 

To conclude. — It is written in the Prophet, " In that 
day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the 
language of Canaan ;"* and in another place, " Then 
will I turn to the people a pure language."! Frona 
these, and many othersimilar passages of scripture, we 
learn, that it is the great and blessed intent of God and 
religion to man, to enable him to speak a new language^ 
or, as it is here called, the language of Canaan^ and a 
pure language ; or, as it is expressed in my text, " To 
speak with a new tongue." 

This blessed end of the dispensations of God to 
man, was represented and confirmed by that memora- 
ble sign of cloven fiery tongues which appeared to and 
sat upon the Apostles at the day of Pentecost, whereby 
was signified, that under the administration and going 
forth of the power and spirit of the manifested Jeho- 
vah in the person of Jesus Christ, operating in the 
hearts of men, the tongue or language of man should 
partake of its divine efficacy, and should be a tongue 

* Isaiah niK. 18. 
I Zeph. iii. 9. 



ON TRUE FAITH. 233 

ar language animated with the fire of heaven, that is, 
with an heavenly love and charity. 

Oh 1 then that we were all diligent to fulfil this de- 
sign of God and his holy religion to us, that so we 
might become partakers of all its blessedness! Oh! that 
for this purpose we did but seriously consider, wheth- 
er we have this sign of a true faith ; and as seriously 
lay to heart that we cannot possibly be true believers 
only so far as we have this sign, and begin thereby to 
speak, with new tongues, the language of Canaan^ the 
pure language ! 

This new tongue, this language, of Canaan, this pure 
language, we have already shewn, is from God, that is, 
from the grace and Spirit of God in the new heart of 
the sincere Christian. Do we wish then to speak 
with this new tongue the language of Canaan, the pure 
language ? do we wish to know this sign of a true 
faitii ? do we wish thus to be justified and not condemn- 
ed by our words ? do we wish that all our words and 
discourse may be of God, and lead us to God? let us 
then follow tliis plain Gospel rule, and we cannot pos- 
sibly any of us fail of this infinite blessedness ; let us 
search out and put away from our hearts and lives 
that spirit of selHsh and worldly love, which is oppo- 
site to the love of Jesus Christ and our neighbour ; let 
us shun all sin as contrary to God and his comjnand- 
ments ; let us believe in and apply to Jesus Christ as 
our God, and Redeemer, and Regenerator : iel us Ibrm 
our lives by his Spirit : we shall then soon find our 
tongues, our speech, and Language iniiuenced thereby ; 
X 2 



234 ON TRUE FAITH. 

for having our hearts ever turned from ourselves to Je^ 
sus Christ, we shall soon find Jesus Christ and his love 
in our hearts ; our hearts will thus become new^ and 
ruled by a new spirit ; and in proportion as our hearts 
are thus renewed, we shall attain to the infinite bles- 
sedness of speaking with new tongues the language of 
Canaan^ aud a pure language, 



■( 



ON TRUE FAITH: 



SERMON XXIV. 



St. Mark xvi. 17, la. 

These Signs shall follow them that believe : in 
my NAME shall they cast out Devils ; they shall 
speak with new tongues ; they shall take up 
serpents ^ ' and if they drink any deadly things 
it shall not hurt them : they shall lay hands on, 
the sick, and they shall recover^ 



Having already considered the two first sfgns of a 
true faith here spoken of, viz. the casting out devils, 
and the speaki.tg with new tongues^ I shall now pro- 
ceed, as r proposed, to a consideration of the third 
sign, viz. the taking up of serpents^ and shew how this 
«ign ever follows the true believer in the name of the 
Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

The nature and meaning of this sign cannot he 
known, unless it be understood, first, what is htvv n^eant 
by serpents; and, secondly, what is meant by taking up 
serpents. 



2S6 ON TRIfE FAITH, 

These two inquiries, then, shall be the subject of 
my present discourse ; and may the God of uiercy, 
who giveth understanding, and who openeth the eyes 
of man to see the wondrous things of- his law, open the 
eyes of all amongst us, that we may be enabled to dis- 
cern herein that light of eternal life and truth, which 
may be profitable to our salvation ! 

Every serious and attentive reader of the holy Scrip- 
ture must needs have observed, that the various princi- 
ples, parts, and powers, which enter into the constitu- 
tion of man, are in those holy records not only com- 
pared to various animals here on earth, but are also 
called by the names of such animals. 

Thus our Lord himself is frequently called a Lamb, 
and the Lamb of God,"^ to denote his holy innocence : 
he is also called in other places a Lio/i,t to denote his 
great power and might. And thus all his true follow- 
ers are called sheep, and also lainbs,\ to denote their 
purity, goodness, and innocence, which they receive 
from the Lord. 

On the other hand, the devil, we find, who is of a 
nature opposite to the Lord and to innocence, is called 
a bear and a wolf,^ by reason of his continual desire 

* See fsaiah xvi. 1 j liii. 7. Jer. xi. 19. John i 29 ; and the 
Revelations thiougliout. 

f See Gen. xlix. 9, Id Hdsea v. 14 ; xiii. 7, 8. Rev. v. 5j 
1.3. 

I See Isaiah liii. 6. Psalm Ixxix. 13 ; c. 3. Jobii x. through. 
out ; chap. x\'i 15, 16, 17. 

$ See Laiu. m, 10. Isaiah xi. 7. Amos v. 9. Jcr. v. 6. J^obs 
3. 12. 



ON TRUE Fi.ITH* 237 

to destroy what is good : at other times, he is de- 
scribed by the names of poisonous and subtle ani- 
mals, and is called a serpent, a dragon, an adder, and 
the like,* to denote his poisonous artiiice and cun- 
ning subtlety, whereby he deceives and destroys men's 
souls. 

In like manner, all wicked men, who may be called 
devils in human forms, are named by similar names 
with the devil himself. Thus John the Baptist, and 
also the Lord, call the Sadducees and Pharisees b. ge". 
neration of vipers ;t and thus, when our Lord speaks 
of Herod, who sought to kill him, he calls him a fox : 
*' Go ye," saith he to the Pharisees, " and tell that fox ^ 
Behold I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day and 
to-morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. "| 
Thus, also, the carnal and sensual are frequently 
named dogs : *' Many dogs,^^ saith the Psalmist, '' are 
come about me ;"§ speaking of his temptations and as- 
saults from the wicked. " Beware of dogs,'^\\ saith 
the Apostle ; speaking of the sensual and carnal-mind- 
ed, who opposed the purity of his doctrine. And in 
the Revelations, where mention is made of the holy 
city, the new Jerusalem, it is written, ** Without are 
dogs, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and murderers.^ 



* See Gen. iii. 1. 13. Psalm xci. 13 ; cxl. 2> Isaiah xxvii, L 
Rev xii. 3, 4. 7. 9. 13 ; and many places, 
t Matt. iii. 7 J xii. 34. Lake iii. 7. 
\ Luke xiii. 32. 
\ Psahn xxii. 16. 
II Philip, iii. 2; 



238 ON TRUE FAITH. 

and idolaters, and whosoever lovelh and maketh a 
lie ;''* where dogs denote those who immerse their af- 
fections in th*e delii^h(sof sense, or of the carnal nature. 

NuDiberless other examples might here be adduced, 
would the time permit, of this method of speaking 
used in the holy Scriptures, or Word of God, whereby 
the spiritual principles, parts, and powers, which en- 
ter iiito the constitution of man, ^re not only compared 
to, but are al;?o called by the names of such animals, 
as in their natures correspond to such principles, parts, 
and powers Those, however, which have been al- 
ready mentioned, will, 1 trusi, be sufficient for our pre- 
sent purpose. 

From i.hi? method of speaking, then, so familiar and 
common in the ho'y Scriptures, every enlightened eye 
will be enabled cleariy to discern what we are to un- 
derstand by serpents in the words of my text. The 
serv.ent, we all know, is an animal of a very subtle and 
cunning nature ; in many c^ses poisonous ; which is not 
elevated above the earth 'ike other animals, but creeps 
or crawls on the ground, and hides itself in holes and 
clefts of the earth, from whence it frequently darts 
forth to the terror and destruction of man and other 
creatures. 

Hence this animal most fitly denotes the sensual 
maUy or the sensual part and principle in the life of 
m?.n. For this sensual part or principle, we all know 
by experience, is of a very cunning and subtle nature, 

* Rev. xxii. 15. 



ON TRUE FAITH* 239 

fieluSing and deceiving man by appearances and false 
persuasions, as it is written of the serpent which tempt- 
ed and deceived Eve, that " he was more subtle than 
any beast of the field which the Lord had made ;"* it 
is also in many cases poisonous, infecting and destroy- 
ing the spiritual or heavenly life in man ; it creeps 
likewise on the ground, is in close connexion with 
earthly and worldly things, delighting itself with them, 
immersing itself in them, and thence causing much ter- 
ror, and often bringing destruction to man's superior 
parts and principles, that is, to the inner man : thus 
its operations are still the same that they were in old 
lime, in the days of our first parents, who were sedu- 
ced hereby, and lost paradise ; it is ever tempting us 
to eat of the forbidden fruit, to forget God and his 
kingdom, to love this world only, and the things there- 
of, whereby it causeth in many of us also the loss of 
paradise. 

But this signification of the word serpent will more 
plainly appear, if we proceed to consider, secondly, 
Tvhat is Qieant by takiiig up serpents. 

From this expression, " They shall take up sev" 
pents,"^^ it must be very evident to every considerate 
and attentive mind, that our Lord, by serpents, could 
never mean real natural serpents, such as we see in 
this natural world ; for according to such meaning, 
what could be the significc4ion of taking up serpents? 
How could this be any sii;n of true faith ? What end . 
could it possibly answer for any one to liave Ibis 

^ GfD. iii. 1. 



240 ON TRUE FAITH, 

sign? How few also would have it in their power U 
give this testinony of their faith? Besides, had the 
Lord here meant real serpents, he would surely rather 
have spoken o^ treading iheiii down, or of escaping hurt 
from them, than of taking them up. 

It must then needs be, that our Lord by serpents 
here meant to denote some part or principle in the 
life and constitution of man ; and that it is the sensual 
part or principle which is here denoted by serpents^ 
will be most manifest from a right consideration of our 
Lord's expression in relation thereto, " They shall 
take up serpents." 

For to take up any thing signifies to elevate, to ex- 
alt, to raise from a lower to a higher state ; to take up, 
in this sense, as appHed to r^al serpents, can have lit- 
tle or no meaning ; but when applied to what is signifi- 
ed by serpents, viz. the sensual part or principle in the 
life of mun, it will then be found to have a meaning 
full of importance, full of holiness, worthy of God to 
dictate, worthy of man to receive, expressive of the 
real power of a divine faith, and therefore highly pro- 
per to be enumerated amongst the true signs and cha- 
racters of such a faith. 

" in my name they shall take up serpents." 

May I beseech your most earnest attention to the 
meaning of this expression, they shall take up, as ap* 
plied to the sensual parjt or principle of the life of man, 
signified by serpjents ! 

It is the gre it end of the Gospel not to destroy the 
sensual principle in man, but to save and bless it, by 



ON TRUS PAITIC* 241 

Elevating, by exalting, by raising or taking it up 
through the influence of the spiritual principle ; Sind 
this happy end is effected, when man submits his sen- 
sual part, with ail its affections, to the rule and domi- 
nion of the spiritual part, and its affections. 

We all know that man's life consists of many parts 
or principles ; they may in general be divided into 
two ; the sensual and the spiritual ; the sensual is the 
lowest and outermost ; the spiritual is the higher ^nd 
innermost^ 

These two parts may be either divided or united ; 
they are divided when man lives a sensual life alone^ 
without living a spiritual life ; they are united when 
man lives at the same time ^ spiritual life, and thereby 
hath rule and dominion over the sensual life ; when 
they are divided, tben the sensual life is hurtful, and 
brings destruction and condemnation to man, and is in 
this respect called a serpent, cunning aqa subtle, and 
poisonous, and creeping on the ground ; [)ut when they 
are united, that is, when spiritual life hath rule and 
pre-eminence over the sensual life, then the sensual 
life is no longer hurtful ; its poison is taken away from 
it ; its cunning and subtlety are made subservient to 
higher wisdom ; it becomes beneficial and blessed t© 
man ; aad in this case it may be said to he taken up^ 
that is, to be elevated, exalted, and raised from a Ion''- 
er to a higher place. 

As for example— ^The appetite for eating and drink- 
ing is 3i sensual appetite, appertaining to the sensual 
life of man; if this appetite be separated from what Is 

Y 



242 ON TRUE FAITH. 

9piritucd^ it then becomes hurtful to man ; it renders 
man carnal and gluttonous ; it immerses his spirit in 
abominable filthy lusts ; it is thus a poisowms serpent 
which deceives and destroys man ; but if this appetite 
be placed under the rale and guidance of the spiritual 
principle in man ; if, according to the apastle's advice, 
man eats and drinks to the glory of God ; if he con- 
sults herein the dictates of sober reason and religion : 
in this case the appetite for eating and drinking is ele- 
rated, it is exalted, it is the serpent taken up, and thus 
it is no longer poisonous and prejudicial, but blessed 
and profitable unto man. 

And what is here said of eating and drinking, may 
easily be applied to all the other sensual appetites, 
and is equally true concerning them : whensoever they 
are separated from what is spiritual, that is from the 
loye and wisdom, the grace and Spirit of God ruling 
over them, directing, regulating, elevating, and blessing 
them, they are then hurtful and deadly ; they are then 
60 many serpents, dragons, 2Lnd poisonous animals, con- 
tinually raising up their heads, shooting forth their fa- 
tal stings, and infecting with their deadly venom the 
spiritual and heavenly principles of man's internal and 
everlasting life : but whensoever on the contrary they 
are brought under the rule and dominion of spiritual 
life, that i."^, of the love and wisdom, the grace and Spi- 
rit of God in man, then their former evil state is total- 
ly reversed ; through the power of heavenly faith and 
love, tiiey are then elevated; they no longer look 
downwards towards the world and th^ flesh, but they 



ON TRUE FAITH^ MS 

iook upwards towards God and heaven ; they are in- 
deed stili serpents, but then thej are serpents take^i up, 
serpents deprived of their poison ; thus they declare 
and manifest in man the mighty power of Jesus Christ, 
and are continual signs and proofs of that power, inas- 
much as none but Jesus Christ, through a divine faith 
in hira, can thus raise them up, deprive them of their 
!oison, and make them thereby profitable and bles* 
oed unto man. 

To conclude. We read, in the book of Exodus, 
this remarkable relation concerning Moses, when he 
was expressing his doubts to the Lord respecting his 
testimony being received by the children of Israel : 
'*' They will not," saith he, *' believe me ; for they 
will say. The Lord hath not appeared unto thee. And 
the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand ? 
And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the 
ground : and he cast it on the ground, and it became 
a serpent ; and Moses fled from before it. And the 
Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take 
it by the tail : and he put forth his hand, and caught 
it, and it became a rod in his hand."'^ 

Behold here a confirming testimony of what hath 
been just now observed in relation to the power of a 
divine faith in taking up serpents ! By the rod of 
Moses, is here signified the power of such a faith. By 
this rod becoming a serpent when it was cast on the 
ground, is signified, that when the divine power in 

*Exod.iv. 1 to 5. 



i244 ON TRUE TAITH. 

man is immersed and buried in things of this world 
and the flesh, it becomes merely sensual. By the 
serpent becoming a rod again ^ when Moses caught il 
by the tail, is signified, the elevation of the sensual 
principle through the power of a divine faith. Thus 
was it to be made known unto the children of Israel^ 
that the Lord had appeared unto Moses, and that he 
was to lead them out of Egypt into the good land of 
Canaan. 

May we also, beloved, seek for, and be convinced 
by the same sign, respecting our Moses, the Lord Je- 
sus Christ, our great leader and deliverer from spiri- 
tual Egypt to the heavenly Canaan ! The rod is m 
his hand ; a divine power over us, and in us, to elevate 
us to himself, to raise up all our affections from things 
below, and to gather us into his kingdom. If we 
cast this rod to the ground ; if we bury our affections 
merely in the things of time and sense, it will thea 
become a serpent; we shall be mere sensual men, ac- 
cursed, and separated from the divine presence, crawl- 
ing on the ground, full of subtlety and of all deadly 
poison : But if we will take up this serpent ; if we 
will suffer the sensual affections to be ruled and ele- 
vated by the spiritual ; the serpent will then become 
a rod again in our hands, even a rod of divine pow- 
er, by which we shall have dominion over the lower 
things of time and sense ; using, and yet not abusing 
them. 

Thus shall we be convinced of the power of our 
God. having this infallible sign of a true laitb j and 



ON TRUE FAITH. 245 

by blessed experience we shall be taught thus what 
was meant of old by the brazen serpent^ which Moses 
was commanded to lift up in the 'wilderness ;* and also 
what was meant by the seed of the woman bruising the 
serpenfs head ;t and further, what our Lord meant, 
when he said to all his true disciples, " Behold, I give 
unto you power to tread on serpents, and on scor- 
pions, and over all the power of the enemy ; and no- 
thing shall by any means hurt you."| 

For this purpose, may we consider well, whether 
the serpent be taken up in us, and become a rod^ or 
whether we want this sign of a true faith ! And may 
we all be led, by such consideration, to humble our- 
selves, with all our affections, principles, and powers, 
more deeply before our God, that so we may be made 
sensible, in a more lively and blessed manner, of the 
elevating and exalting power of his pure and hoJy love 
^nd truth in us ! 



* Numb. xxi. 8, 9. John ill. 14, 
f Gen. iii. 15. 
X Luke s. 14. 



Y ^ 



i 



J. 



ON TRUE FAITH. 



SERMON XXV. 



St. Mark, xvi. 17, 18. 

These Signs shall follow them that believe f 
in my name shall they cast out Lhvils ; the^ 
shall speak with new tongues ; they shall take 
up serpents ; and if they drink any deadly 
things it shall not hurt them ^ they shall lay 
hands on the sicky and they shall recover^ 



Vt E have already considered the three first of these 
signs, viz. " the casting out devils^ the speaking with 
new tongues^ and the taking up serpents, and shewn how 
these signs in all ages, and with all people, have ever 
'followed a true faith in the name of the Lord God and 
Saviour Jesus Christ ; we shall now proceed to con- 
sider, as was proposed, the /owH^ sign here pointed at 
by our blessed Lord, "•' If they drink any dea Jlylhingj 
it sh 11 not hurt them," . and shew how this sign is 
ever fulfilled in the true believer. 



248 ON TRUE FAITHv 

None however can understand \That is meant by this 
sign, unless it be first known what is meant here by 
any deadly thing, and hy drinking thereof. May I 
therefore bespeak your serious attention, whilst I en- 
deavour to explain to you the real meaning of these ex- 
pressions ; and may I hope further that you will not 
fail to pray earnestly in your own minds for divine il- 
lumination herein, without which it will not be possi- 
ble for you to comprehend the depth of that heavenly 
wisdom and instruction which the words before us 
contain ! 

It may seem, at first hearing, and to the merely na- 
tural mind it will continue to seem so, as if by the 
deadly thing, of which the Lord here speaks, nothing 
else was intended to be meant, but somewhat that 
brings death to the body, as all sorts of poisonous sub- 
stances do ; and that a true faith was to prevent the 
fatal effect of such natural poisons. 

But, beloved, permit me to intimate to you, that 
there are deadly things of another sort, besides those 
which affect the body; there are spiritual as well as 
natural poisons ; and the spiritual life may be infect- 
ed and destroyed by the one, as the natural life may 
be infected and destroyed by the other. 

For as by the word serpent, according to what was 
shewn in a late discourse, is meant not only a natural 
serppiit, in its outward natural forin here on earth, but 
also a spiritual ser{)ent, that is, some spiritual evil prin- 
ciple in man corresponding thereto ; so by the deadly 
AiVig-j here spoken of by our i4>rd, is meant not only 



ON TRUS rAi'TH. 249 

natural poison, or that which affects the body of man, 
but also spiritual poison, or that which affects the spirit 
©f man. 

But it will be asked, " What is to be understood by 
spiritual poison ? Every one understands well what 
natural poison is, by its terrible effects on the body ; 
but has spiritual poison the same sensible and terrible 
effects on the soul ? Can there be any deadly thing 
which can infect and destroy the spiritual life of man, 
as we see natural poison infects and destroys his na- 
tural life ? If there be such a deadly Jhing existing^ 
tell us, what is it, or what are we to understand by it, 
that so we may be on our guard against it ?" 

I am well aware, that many questions of this kind 
will be suggested, concerning that spiritual deadly 
things or that spiritual poison^ of which we are speak- 
ing : they will however all of them find a full and sa- 
tisfactory answer in our own minds, whensoever we 
do but rightly consider and apprehend the true nature 
of man's spxVc'^wa/ /i/e, what it is, and in what it con- 
sists. 

Whilst we think of man only in respect to his bodi- 
h ^1^5 ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^t b^ ^ble to form an idea of any 
other sort of deadly things but what affects his bodily 
life ; but if we would think of man in respect to his 
spiritual /j/e, that is, the eternal life of his spirit ; if we 
would consider and comprehend aright what this spi- 
ritual life is, and in what it consists, we should then 
see clearly, that it is subject to death also as well as 
the bodily life, and that whatever occasions its death 
rs a deadly things a spiritual poison^ so much more ter* 



2dO ©N TRUE FAITH. 

rible than any natural poison, as the loss of spiritual 
liie is iDorc to be drercded than the loss of bodily h*fe. 

We should tlien also, in some measure, be enabled 
to apprehend the particular nature, qualities, and pro- 
pel lies of such spiritual poison ; we should perceive 
whence it originates, how it operates, and what is the 
proper and only antidote against it ; we should see how" 
ail naiural poisons have their birth and origin in this 
spiritual poison, and were intended to warn man of its 
fatal effects and consequences. 

We should, in short, then plainly see into the full 
sense and meaning of this sign of a true faith as de- 
clared by the Lord, " ff they drink any deadly thing, 
it shall not hurt them ;" for we should see, how the 
impenitent, the unconverted ^ and unbelieving, are for 
ever drinking deadly thijtgs, and are hurt thereby to 
the utter destruction of their immortal spirits 5 whereas 
the truly penitent, converted, and believing follow- 
ers of J.esus Christ, in and through the power of his 
mighty name and heavenly S[)jrit guiding, governing, 
and preserving them, though they drink of deadly things^ 
yet their immortal or spiritual life sutfers no injury 
thereby. 

Much might here be said, if occasion required, and 
if time would permit, concerning the origin, nature, 
malignancy, and variety of spiritual deadly things, or 
poisons; much more, possibly, than many would give 
credit to. At present, however, I shall beg leave to 
turn your attention to a remarkable expression here 
used by our Lord, in describing the sign under, consi- 



ON TRUE FAITH* 251 

deration, which may serve to give us further light on 
this important subject. 

It is observable, that our Lord, in describing this 
sign^ makes no mention of eating any deadly thing ; 
but oniy says, *' If they drink any deadly thing.*" 
Now, if only mere natural poison was here to be un- 
derstood, there can no reason be assigned, why men- 
tion should not have been made of eating as wxll as of 
drinking ; inasmuch as we all know that man's bodily 
life may be poisoned and destroyed, as well by what 
he eats^ as by what he drinks. 

What considerate person, then, cannot here plainly 
see, that some lesson of deep instruction was intended 
ty the Lord, and that this instruction must have rela- 
tion to spiritual deadly things^ or spiritual poison ? 

I shall endeavour to unfold to such as are desirous of 
apprehending and profiting by it, what this instruc- 
tion is. 

Every one who is at all acquainted with the nature 
of spiritual life, must needs know, that spiritual life re- 
quires its nourishment, that is, its meat and drink^ as 
well as bodily life. 

He may therefore further know, if he be so disposed, 
that spiritual life has its hunger and thirsty and eats and 
drinks as well as bodily life : and accordingly, much 
mention is made in holy Scripture of such spiritual 
hunger and thirst, as well as of such spiritual eating and 
drinking, ^''^^ 

* See particularly Matt, v, 6. Luke vii. 21 ; and John v\, 
tkxougb oot. 



552 ON TRUE FAITH. 

But though all this be known, or be easy to be 
known, yet few consider what constitutes the real dif- 
ference between spiritual eating and spiritual drinking, 
or in what they are distinguished ; and yet this is of 
importance also to be known. 

Now spiritual eating hath respect to the will princi* 
pie in man : spiritual drinking hath respect to the 
principle of the understanding. We all know, that 
man's mind consists of these two parts or principles : 
but then we do not enough consider what is the proper 
food and nourishment of each ; how the one hungers^ 
the other thirsts ; the one eats^ the other dnnks ; the 
one receives continually spiritual meat^ whilst the other 
as constantly receives spiritual drink. 

It will be sufficient, however, for our present pur- 
pose to know, that drinking hath respect to the princi- 
ple of the understanding in man ; and therefore, when 
our Lord said, " If they drink any deadly thing, it 
shall not hurt them," be meant to allude to the deadly 
poisonous things^ which affect man's understanding. 

Sutfer me, by way of conclusion, to press upon you 
the important signification of this sign of a truefaitk^ 
according to the sense of the expressions thus opened 
and explained. 

Deadly things^ we have already shewn, are all such 
things as tend to destroy spiritual life in man. Spiri- 
tual life is love towards the Lord Jesus Christ, and to- 
wards one another, operating in all good thoughts, 
words, and works. To drink deadly things^ then, is 
t^ imbibe or receive tliose false principles and persua* 



ON TRUE FAITH. 253 

^rons of evil in our understandings, which are oppo- 
site to and destructive of such spiritual life. These 
false principles and persuasions are many and vavious, 
being continually suggested to the mind, unaer aa in- 
finity of forms, by the devil, the world, and the Hesh. 
If man could see how he is ever beset by them, and 
what danger he is in from them, he would be all as- 
tonishment. For they encompass him about on every 
side : they are the bees of the Psalmist, of which he 
says, " They came about me like bees :"* they are 
also the locusts, which St. John saw " ascending from 
the bottomless pit."t Solitude itself is no security 
against them ; and yet, in society, and in conversa- 
tion, they generally abound most. Bad books are full 
of them ; and in reading such books, we dwell as among 
scorpions : and yet there is no book so good, but, if 
we are not watchful, we may incur danger herein. 
Even the holy Scriptures themselves have been, and 
may be s© perverted, as to become instruments of be- 
getting the deadly things, whilst the corrupt mind of 
man hath collected and doth still collect thence false 
doctrines and mistaken principles to his destruction. 
What shall I say more ? The church of Christ itself 
is not free from the fatal poison ; for even in the 
church, tenets and opinions are often taught and circu- 
lated, contrary to the truth, and highly prejudicial Xo 
the spiritual life of man. < 

* Psalm cxviii. 12. 
f Rev. ix. 3. 

z 



254 ON TRUE FAITH* 

Herein, however, is a remarkable difference, well 
to be attended to, in regard to the effect of these deadly 
l^oisonous things on different persons. The impenitent 
and unconverted, who live raereJy to themselves and 
the world, without any concern about their spiritual 
life ; these all drink greedily of the deadly poison ; 
they receive it into the very essence of their life ; it 
there diffuses its fatal influences ; it infects and de- 
stroys, by degrees, all the principles of the life of hea- 
ven, which is the true love of God and of their neigh- 
bour ; it is to them what the Psalmist calls the poison 
of asps ;"^ they become dead thereby to all true life, 
and live merely a sensual, selfish, and worldly life, 
which, in the language of holy Scripture, is spiritual 
death ;t and thus, for want of a true faith in Jesus 
Christ, they are hurt by the deadly thing to the utter 
destruction of the soul and spirit. 

But it is otherwise with those blessed ones, who, by 
virtue of a true repentance and conversion to the God 
of heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ, have their minds 
ever open to tiis salutary influences, and experience the 
preserving and healing power of his Spirit in their own 
hearts and lives. If these even drink the deadly thing, 
it doth not hurt them. All false principles and persua- 
sions w^bica have admittance to their minds, all false 
doctrines, all false opinions, even though received for 
a tiir e, yet lose their poisonous qualities, and are 
soon cast out again. Such true believers are they 

* Pf-alm cxl 3. 
f Rom. ill. 15. 



*i 



ON TRUE PAriH. '255 

whom the prophet calls the *' sucking cliild, whicli 
should play on the hole of the asp ; and the weaned 
childj which should put his hand on the cockatrice 
den.""-^ For, having their souls ever open, by a true 
faith and good life, to the light of truth, which is the 
light of the love and mercy of Jesus Chris(-, and fra* 
ming their lives accordingly, they have ihe seal of God 
in their foreheads ; and thus are preserved, by virtue of 
that seal, against all the power of the wicked one. 

May we then labour, beloved, to experience the sa- 
lutary influence of such aright evangelical faith 1 May 
we labour to possess this true sign of a true belief in 
the holy and high name of our God, the Lord Jesus 
Christ ! For this purpose, may we be careful to come 
to this our God, in the spirit of a true repentance, and 
sincere searching out and departing from all evil of 
iniquity, which is the love of ourselves, of this worlds 
and the flesh ! Our Lord doth not say, If they eat any 
deadly thing, it shall not hurt them ; because, to eat 
the deadly thing, is to love and live in sin ; and this 
must needs htrt every one, inasmuch as sin destroys 
all spiritual life ; and no one who lives in sin, can 
possibly be a true believer. May we then, in since- 
rity, put away all sin, looking unto the manifested God 
the Redeemer, Jesus Christ ; and then we sliall soon 
experience all the comforts of this sign of our faith, 
-' If they drink any deadly thing," kc, 

* Isaiah kI. 8. 



ON TRUE FAITH- 



SERMON XXVL 



St. Mark, xvi. IT, 18, 

These Signs shall follow them that believe ; in my 
NAME shall they cast out Devils ; they shall 
speak with new tongues ; they shall take up 
serpents ; and if they drink any deadly things 
it shall not hurt them ; they shall lay hands on 
the sickj and they shall recover. 



IN the preceding discourses on these words, ii has 
been already shewn what is to be understood by the 
four first of these signs, and how in ail ages, and with 
all persons, they ever attend, and are expressive of, a 
true faith in the name of the Lord God and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. 

If what was said concerning those four first signs, 

has been well considered and digested, the nature, 

meaning, and import of the fifth and last sign will 

thence plainly appear, and it will be clearly seen, 

Z2 



-C>» 6N TRUE FAITH. 

bow, in the name of tlie same Lord and Saviour, the 
true believer will '* lay hands on the sick, and they 
jhall recover." 

Whilst we look no deeper into the holy Word of 
God than the outward letter, and discern no higher 
life in man than the life of flesh aad blood, we shall 
naturally be led to suppose, that by the sick here spo- 
ken of, our blessed Lord meant oniy the sick in body, 
and that by laying hands on theoi and their conse- 
quent recovery, he intended only to point out the effi- 
cacy of b:s power in curing bodily disorders. 

But if ojr eyes were opened to see through the veil 
of the letter into the spirit of the holy Scriptures ; if 
at t!ie same time we are enabled to discern in our- 
selves a better and higher principle of life than that of 
mere flesh and blood, even the immortal and most pre- 
cious life of our souls or spirits ; we should be capable 
of apprehending, that when our Lord said of true be- 
lievers, " They shall lay hands on the sick, and they 
-shall recover,'* he designed to point out to us a power 
which should serve nobler ends, and accomplish high- 
er purposes, than that of curing the infirmities of mere 
bodily life only. 

We should then see clearly what is here meant by 
laying on of hands ; what by the sick ; and what by 
their recovery ; and this sight would be exceedingly 
blessed to us, and would tend to quicken and strengthen 
our faith in that holy God and Saviour, who tlius con- 
tinucJly works mighty signs and wonders in all those 
that truly believe in his great and holy name. May 



ON TRUE FAITH* 25^ 

aH our eyes then be now opened to see into the true 
spirit and meaning of God's holy Word I May they be 
further opened to discern in ourselves that hidden but 
invaluable life of our spirits, v^hich is infinitely above 
the perishable life of flesh and blood ! May we thus 
be prepared to consider and apprehend the true sense 
of this last sign of a real Gospel faith, '' They shall 
lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." 

And first, may we Rightly consider and apprehend 
what is here meant by laying on of hands! — This has 
been a. sign in all ages to denote a communication of 
virtue and power ; thus our Lord and his Apostles 
used this sign continually both in blessing the bodies 
and the souls of men ; they laid their hands on some, 
and they were healed of bodily diseases ; they laid 
their hands on others, and they received the Holy Ghosty 
and were cured of spiritual diseases. 

By the sign then of laying on of hands, as applied 
to a true faith, is meant, a communication thereby of 
divine virtue and power from the great Omnipotent, the 
Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is the blessed 
privilege of the true believer, that he enjoys continual- 
ly such a communication : his faith is a divine princi- 
ple in him derived from the great redeeming God, 
and ascending again up to that God, and operating in 
conformity to his laws : it keeps open therefore the 
door of his heart ever towards God ; all holy and hea- 
venly influences enter daily and hourly at that door ; 
and in this sacred communion he discovers the true 
source of ail human power and virtue : a power of his 



260 Oiy TRUE FAITH, 

own, a virtue self-derived, he here discovers are things 
of no value in the sight of God : his faith therefore 
operates in the name of Jesus Christ alone, and he re- 
fers all power, all virtue, and all excellency to thi? 
their only true and proper source : thus does the true 
believer fulfil this sign of laying on of hands in the name 
of Jesus Christ. 

But for what ends is this divine power received, or 
what is this laying on of hands to effect ? We are pre- 
sently informed, " They shall lay hands on the sick.*' 
By the sick, it is very plain, are here meant, not onlj" 
the bodily, but the spiritually sicky or such as are dis- 
eased in their souls through sin : our blessed Lord and 
his Apostles did indeed cure the bodily diseases of 
men, by the laying on of hands ; but then it is well to 
be observed, that the cure of bodily diseases was only 
intended as an external sign and proof of that internal 
power and virtue, opened in and through the great 
Redeemer, which was to cure the diseases of the soul ; 
and every enlightened eye will regard it according to 
this its real and heavenly intention. 

But it may be asked, '' What are the diseases of 
the soul, and who are the spiritually sick ? — Alas ! can 
we any of us be ignorant of this? Have we never ex- 
amined our own hearts and lives ? Did we never dis- 
cover by such examination the symptoms of spiritual 
disease and malady ? Are all the powers and princi- 
ples of life, in all Mieir several degrees, sound, perfect, 
an ' vi'Toious in us ? Do we love the great and holy 
God as freely, as purely, and as effectually, as we 



ON TRUE FAITH. 2Q1 

oiigbt to love him ? Do we love our neighbours as our- 
selves, and shew forth this our love in deed and opera- 
tion ? Do we find no obstructions to this love and its 
fruits ? No selfish affections, no worldly interests, 
no carnal concupiscencies, that thwart, pervert, or de- 
file the love of heaven ? Surely none can have examin- 
ed himself sincerely herein, but he must have found 
that all is not right with him ; he must therefore 
have discovered the root of disorder; he must be 
forced to see and confess, that both himself and all 
mankind are by nature spiritually sick^ and can only 
be restored to health by the laying on of the hands 
of a true and effectual faith in Jesus Christ. 

Behold here then a further sign and character of a 
true believer in the name of the Lord God and Saviour 
Jesus Christ! He hath not only communication with 
heaven, that is, with the God of heaven, by virtue of 
heavenly faith in Jesus Christ, but he also applies 
this communication, and the powers and influen- 
ces thereby bestowed, to the state of his own soul 5 
he rectifies by it all the principles of his life in 
their several degrees ; he examines into the nature 
and kind of all his disorders, that is, his depar- 
tures from heavenly order and uprightness ; he applies 
medicines to each, according to their several necessi- 
ties ; he strengthens what is weak ; he purges and 
separates what is impure ; he cuts off what is unsound ; 
in short, bringing his whole life into conformity to the 
laws of Jesus Christ, which are the laws of heaven and 
heavenly order, he draws down the healing virtue^ 



10!;^ OX TRUE FAiTH. 

thereof into bis own soul, and his own lite, and thu 
qives a sure infallible proof and si^^n of his faith by 
*• lajing hands on the sick.'' 

But this is not all — Did the believer's faith do no 
more than open communication with heaven, and draw 
down the hxealing virtues thereof, and apply them to 
his spiritual disorders, without effecting a cure, it 
would in this case be a fruitless and imperfect faith ; 
leaving him as it found him, a poor, infirm, diseased, 
and sickly being. Too many, alas I amongst those who 
call themselves Christians are in this state ; they look 
up to heaven at times for divine virtue and powder ; 
they receive medicines for the removal of all their dis- 
orders ; but then they do not so use and apply those 
medicines as to render them effectual ; they mix 
other things with them, which counteract and oppose 
their heahng operation; just as in the case of bodily 
disorders, w^e see people sometimes take physic, who 
disappoint all the good effects thereof by an indiscreet 
mixiure of other and contrary things with-it, or by ir- 
regularity of life. 

Not so the true and sincere believer in Jesus Christ : 
in him is fulfilled this sign in all its fulness, " He 
shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.'' 
He does not rest satisfied with opening the com.muni- 
cation between God and his own soul, and applying 
the healing medicines of the Gospel to cure his dis- 
orders, but he is careful that those medicines 
may have their full effect ; that they may ope- 
rate to his entire recovery of the health, strength. 



ON TRUE FAITH. 283 j 

and perfection of a divine iife ; that his love to God 
and his neighbour may be sound, constant, regular, 
cheerful, active, fruitful, and operative ; that all hin- 
drances may be removed, all sources of malady and 
disease extirpated, which tend to v/eaken, to disorder, 
or to pervert the influences of heaven and heavenly 
Vile : in applying therefore these medicines, he takes 
good heed not to mix therewith any thing which may 
disturb their salutary operations ; he observes such rules 
of spiritual sobriety, order, cleanliness, separation, and 
regularity, as may ensure success to his applications ; 
he knows that the healing grace and mercy of Jesus 
Christ has such a power and virtue in it, that nothing 
can prevent its efficacy, if it be suffered to operate 
freely and fuliy ; but he knows also, that notwithstand« 
ing such power and virtue of divine grace, its efficacy 
may be retarded, if not totally perverted and prevent- 
ed, by the indiscretion of man ; these considerations, 
at the same time that they teach him to place the full- 
est confidence in God, teach him also to be very watch- 
ful and circumspect over himself; and thus, he ap- 
plies the gospel remedies, and he applies them success- 
fully ; he " lays hands on the sick, and they recover." 
Oh blessed privilege of a true faith, which is thus 
operative to the removal of all disease and disorder of 
soul, and to its full recovery and establishment in a 
divine and heavenly iife ! Oh happy believer, who is 
tiius enabled to hold intercourse with heaven, to draw 
down thence heavenly virtue and power, and lo reco- 
yer thereby the sound and perfect image, life, and like- 



264 ON TRUE FAITH. 

ness of heaven, to the utter extirpation of the disordeu 
ed image, life, and likeness of vanity and ungodliness I 
Oh niobt holy and all-powerful virtue, flowing conti' 
nually from the heavenly humanity of the glorified Re- 
deemer, the blessed Jesus, which is thus given forth for 
the healing of the nations, and the restoration of health, 
and strength, and peace unto the people ! — Grant, O 
merciful God, to us thy sinful children, the true wisdom, 
to apply to Thee sincerely, constantly, and eftbctuaily, 
for this thine healing virtue. May our hearts be ever 
open to the reception thereof ? May we be enlight- 
ened to see and apprehend our great need of it, from 
^ conviction of our manifold disorders ! And may this 
conviction lead us to use the blessed medicine, that 
we may never by our irregularities pervert its efficacy, 
but by the order and sobriety of our lives may so cherish 
and assist its influence, that it may work to our per- 
fect and final recovery from all sickness, to the healthy 
strength, and comfort of an heavenly life I AMEN. 



THE END. 



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